Gerald of Patch
by R.W.B.Y.Pioneer17
Summary: Heard of him? Lady, I KNOW him. He's my nephew. And let me tell you something; He's the real deal. He's not as dashingly handsome and smooth with women like yours truly, but he's six times better than me in battle when I was his age. So if you're really gonna go ahead with this, then by all means. Just know, I'll be laughing my ass off when he makes you drop on yours.
1. Book 1: Silver and Steel

**A/N: Yeah, new story. No words necessary, folks. Let's just get this show on the road. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY and all the other various media that you may or not notice in this story of mine, and I never will. Only the OC's and the Canonical changes to the show are the things that are connected to me.**

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**_BOOK 1: Silver and Steel_**

**Chapter 1: Big Brother**

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As the sun slowly starts to rise ever higher in the sky, its light gradually shines down on the island of Patch. Unto the cities, the towns, the villages, the landscapes, unto everything of Patch. And most of all, the home of the Rose-Xiao Long's. But this isn't where we start off our story just yet. First, we gotta go check on a certain someone.

Beyond the tree lines and just a few hundred yards away from the Rose-Xiao Long household, we can see a figure making it's way closer to the cottage house. This figure appeared to be a pale white young man, bulky and slightly rugged-looking, had raven black hair and irises as red as blood. He also appeared to be fully armored in what can be described as full body armor, which excluded the head and hands, that seemed to be made out of some kind of dark leathery material. And strapped to his back, a large red-colored mecha-esque sheath encasing what appeared to be two longswords. It could be seen that, despite having identical hilts, these two swords had different pommel designs. One had the head of a golden dragon and the other one had a silver rose as its pommel. And strapped to his waist, a leather utility belt that looked to be holding onto numerous materials. Such as a knuckle guarded Bowie knife on the left hip, a hand cannon on the right, and three medium-sized pouches at the front.

And though he looked like he was more than ready for a war or two, aesthetically speaking, the look on the young man's face was that of someone that craves nothing more than the comforts of sleep. The slight darkening under his eyes, the usual makings of eye bags to be exact, coupled with his somewhat slouching posture and trudge like walking, he at the moment embodied the very aspect of "Fuck it all, I wanna go to bed." And no one would blame him for wanting the sweet release of unconsciousness. After the non-stop shittiness he had gone through for the past 24 hours, he more than deserves a well-earned rest.

"Fuck." Cursing in his deep gravelly voice, the raven-haired young 'un continued his noticeably slowing trek towards the cottage house as he looked up at the brightening sky. "Gone for an entire day. With no note, text, or message as to where I've been. Ooohhhh, gods, Yang's gonna tear me a new one for this. I just know it."

After a few more moments of walking, which seemed to be a task that was getting harder and harder for the young man to do, he passed through the tree line in front of the Rose-Xiao Long household.

"Ah fuck yes, " Despite running on the fumes of his fumes, he mustered a weak smile and a small laugh as he made his way across the front yard. ", halfway there. Just gotta-" But both his smile and optimistic attitude died and ugly death the moment his tired eyes finally made out the figure standing at the front door of the home. "Aaaahh, fffuuuck." He drawled out with a simultaneous groan and sigh.

There, standing menacingly with a glare and scowl that spoke volumes, stood Yang Xiao Long. She appeared to still have her hair rollers on and was wearing her usual silk-satin nightgown accompanied by her same old plush slippers. But what really got to him were the clear signs of tear streaks on her cheeks and even with his half-conscious mind, he noticed the redness of her pupils and the dark bags under her eyes.

"Yang, " He gasped breathlessly and mustering what little energy he had left to at least try to stand straight. ", w-what...what did-"

"Come here." Yang cut off, voice a higher pitch than usual, and pointed to the spot in front of her. A spot that was well in her range, he noticed. "Now."

"Yang-" He tried again.

"COME. HERE. NOW." The buxom blonde interrupted as a fresh pair of tears streaked down on her cheeks. "And I swear, Gerald if you won't come to me, I sure as hell will come to you. Pick your poison."

Knowing full well either choice would still bring the inevitable, and he also owed it to her, Gerald chose the former choice. And so, with a deep grunt, he walked closer towards his younger sister. A sister that had probably gone through an entire day worrying her guts out. And the very same sister that wanted nothing more than to crack his face sideways for it.

With neither of them looking away from each other's gazes, Gerald stopped directly a foot away from where Yang was pointing. "Is this close enough, Yangy?" He asked with a shrug of his shoulders. And despite the height difference between them, with Gerald being a few inches taller than her, her glare still had its intended effect on him.

"Does your skull hurt?" She asked instead.

"Why?" A fool's question. A question he already knew the answer too. But a question he couldn't help but ask.

"Answer the damn question, Gerald." She growled with grit teeth. Her lilac irises shifting into the same shade of red as his, simultaneously her Aura flared to life and radiated heat. "And you better answer now." She continued, cracking her knuckles and balling her fists so tight he could practically hear her muscles straining.

With a put upon sigh, he shook his head. "No, it doesn't." He answered as he squared his legs and tensed his lower muscles in preparation.

"That's good to hear." She inclined with a nod. "Take two steps forward." She continued. Her Aura growing brighter and emitting even stronger heat.

_Well, here goes nothing._ He thought to himself as he raised his left foot to step forward. _On the bright side-_

Before his raised foot could even begin its descent, Yang, in one lightning-fast and fluid motion, stepped forward, reared her fist as far back as she could before swinging it upward in an uppercut motion, and struck the underside of Gerald's chin. With speed and strength honed by years of relentless training, coupled with the frustration she had built up from having gone through hours and hours of emotional turmoil, Yang's strike was strong enough to rock Gerald's brain and send him upwards off the ground. He went all the way up over a hundred feet in the air before gravity took its hold on him.

_Yep._ Quickly fading away into unconsciousness, the older brother thought to himself as he descended. _I fucking deserve this. _

And a few moments later, his face became one with the ground and he was conscious no more.

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**A/N:** **Onward. **


	2. Chapter 1 Page 1

**Cue Intro Music: ****The Witcher (Netflix) OST- "Geralt of Rivia"**

**Proceed once finished. **

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**Book 1: Silver and Steel**

**Chapter 1: Big Brother**

**Page #1**

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Inside one of the three rooms of the Rose-Xiao Long household, we find Gerald Xiao Long Branwen snoring away in blissful slumber. The young man of 20 years was sprawled on his bed, half-naked and drooling profusely, without a care in the world. So much so that he barely even minded the heat of the sun bearing down on him through his bedroom window.

**BZZZT...BZZZT****... **A scroll, his scroll, located on top of his nightstand lit up and began vibrating. **...BZZZT...BZZZT...BZZZT...BZZZT...**

Subconsciously hearing, and in turn, recognizing his scroll's buzzing, Gerald groaned as he closed his gaping mouth shut before tiredly opening his eyes.

"Argh, damn, what now?" He said as he groggily looked towards his scroll. And with the same amount of enthusiasm as that of a corpse, he sat up straight on his bed and reached for his scroll. He took one look at the caller I.D. and his drowsiness couldn't have faded any faster. "Wade," the young man said as he tapped on the answer button and pressed the scroll to his ear. ", what's the sitch?

**_"Gerald! Thanks be to the brother gods you picked up right away." _**The familiar voice of Wade Wilson answered happily.**_"No time to explain right now but you gotta get over to the tavern. Like, right now. As in now-now."_**

"Whoa-whoa now, Wade. Clam it down a notch." Gerald urged as he kicked up out of his bed and proceeded to tidy it up with the scroll pressed between his ear and his shoulder. "Why didn't you just call through the emergency box?"

The emergency box, a black box that was no bigger than a small notebook, located at the home's living room next to the hollow-screen. This was a long-range telecommunication device that allowed members of the Uni-Guild direct access to its main lines and vice versa. In Gerald's case, due to the rather loud alarm tone it emits, he thought it prudent to place it in the living room. At that distance, it was close enough for him to hear its loud alarm tone while also being far enough to not deafen him. The problem was though...

**_"_****_Uhhh...your Missus happened, remember? Three days ago, you took that job down south of Sanus and you, quote on quote, forgot to tell her about? And she straight up nailed you in the balls for it? Ring any bells?_****_" _**Wade explained on the other end. **_"_****_You even told me that she thrashed the box and threatened to shove it deep in your arse if you ever pull another fast one on her_****_"._**

...it had been, to say the least, rendered completely useless by a certain blondie.

"Ah, " He nodded to himself and held the scroll on one hand as the memory of it came rushing back to the forefront of his mind, and with it the phantom-pain of his family jewels that had him unconsciously covering his groin. ", that's right, yeah. I remember now. But moving on from that, what's happening that's so urgent? Did something happen?"

**_"_****_Oh fuck, I got sidetracked there for a bit-totally your fault by the way-but yeah, you gotta get here to the Tavern as soon as you can. ASAP!_****_"_**

"Those two mean the same thing, Wade." Gerald amended with a raised brow. "And why, exactly? I gotta tell her something this time or else I might end up getting something worse from her. And I'm not sure about you, but I really wanna have kids someday." Not that she would actually go that far, or that's what he hopes at least, but you can never really know for sure. And that's especially true with Yang Xiao Long.

**_"_****_...I can't tell you that, Gerald. I wish I could but I can't. Sorry." _**Wade answered after a short pause.

"What? You can't tell me? The hell is that supposed to mean, Wade? You are literally the last person I can think of that would keep a secret." Gerald shot back with a slightly irritated tone as he opened his bedroom door and stepped out. "Come on Wade, tell me. I really ought to know why you want me to come over there in a hurry." He continued, making his way down the stairs and unto the first floor of their cottage home.

**_"_****_Sorry, dude. No means no. If you wanna find out, then find out for yourself. So don on your armor and get your tight ass over here._****_" _**Another pause as Gerald walked through across their living room, along the way petting Zwei who was chilling on their couch, before continuing towards the basement door. **_"_****_...and just a little heads up, _****_you've been specially summoned. And if you're wondering by who, both my Dad and Mom did. And they've got special clients in tow." _**

That last part had Gerald stopping just as he had opened the basement door and was about to start his descent. "Holy shit, " cursing with slightly widened eyes, the young man shook his head and continued down in a hurried pace. ", so its gonna be one of those days huh, Wade?"

**_"_****_Oooh, definitely. I can literally smell the dough in the air, Gerald." _**A beat. **_"That, or its Vanessa making another batch of unholy pastries. I love that woman to death, you know, but her buns sure are a lot to handle. If ya know what I mean, wink-wink-nudge-nudge._****_"_**

"Shut up, Wade." He couldn't help but chuckle at his best friend's usual quirkiness as he flicked the basement lights on. And lo and behold, their "basement" could be called a large war armory and it would still be an adequate description. What with all the numerous and varying arrays of armors, weapons, bullets, gadgets, and trinkets. The works. "All right, I'm gonna suit up and head there straight after. I'll see you in a bit."

**_"_****_All right, big guy. See you then. And please hurry it up a tad bit. I don't think Vanesa and I can keep these shmucks entertained much longer._****_"_**

And with that, the call ended and Gerald went straight to work.

He chose a full body armor set, one that excluded the head and hands, which was made out of thick dark leather. It took him a couple of minutes, with added time on having to wear the full-body chain mail underneath, but he now had the armor fully strapped on and ready. He gave himself an up-down and nodded in satisfaction before proceeding to pick a utility belt that matched the armor he was wearing and strapped it on.

Once it was rightly secured around his waist, he moved to the weapons corner and began arming himself. He grabbed a bowie knife which had a thick knuckle guard and sheathed it before hooking its scabbard at the left hip of his belt. He then grabbed a Beluga Hand Cannon, secured it in its large strap and hooked the strap at the belts right side. And not wanting to take any chances, Gerald decided that bringing a few vials of "medicine" would be a wise course of action. And so, he grabbed three fist-size brown colored pouches, hooked them at the front side of the belt, and placed two vials in each pouch.

"And last but not least," He said, turning towards the large red mecha-scabbard propped up in one corner. ", you." He walked to it and picked it up by its sling. "Another Hunt, another paycheck to be earned. Let's go." With a grunt, an action that's second nature to him at this point in his life, he positioned the scabbard upright at his back and secured the strappings as he made his way back up and out of the basement.

Fully equipped with all that he needed, Gerald closed the basement door and proceeded back upstairs to the second floor of their home. If this was to be what he thought it was likely going to be, he wanted to inform the girls this time to prevent any unnecessary repercussions. More so from the elder of the two.

"Yang? Ruby?" He called out to his younger sisters as he neared their bedroom door. "Uh, you girls awake yet?" He continued, knocking on their door. And when a few seconds passed with only silence greeting him, he tried again. "Yang? Ruby?" Still no reply. "I'm coming in, all right?"

He turned the knob and slowly creaked the door open at first, but when he heard no reaction whatsoever from the inside, he then pushed it wide open. "Girls?" Only, they weren't there. Their beds, each of them matching their respective owners' color scheme, were tidied up but were devoid of their said owners. "Huh, " With a shrug and a look of mild confusion, Gerald stepped back and closed the door. ", guess they got up already. But it's too early though. And where could they be on a Saturday?"

He made his way down to the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat, and also to prepare Zwei's food, pondering all the while as to where his younger sisters could be on a day where they usually stay late in bed until noon. Once there, he saw a plate that had its contents covered up by a white sheet. But what really had him zeroing in his attention was the folded piece of paper on top of it. He quickly picked it up, unfolded it and inspected its texts.

_"Dear Big Bro, "_ Gerald read mentally. The first few words alone already sold him as to who wrote the note._ ", Yang and I are going to Vale. I'm going because I'm buying new parts for Crescent and Yang said she was gonna go "chill-out" with her friends or whatever that means. I wanted to tell you this personally but you were sound asleep, and I didn't wanna disturb you, so I decided to just write it down instead. And also, don't tell Yang I told you this, but she said she was gonna come home late because she's going clubbing tonight-"_ This got him to stop and grunt in displeasure with a small frown. Yang's a capable girl and a strong one at that, he'll proudly admit. But she's also young and can be recklessly impulsive, he'll admit that much too with gusto. And he didn't like any of the potential prospects clubbing would bring her. _"-and she specifically told me not to tell you this, "_ He continued. _", because she wants to get back at you for not telling her about your last Hunt and making her worry her hair out. Said that this way you'd understand how hard it is. I tried to talk her out of it, but you can guess just how well that went." _Feeling bad for having his youngest sibling go through something like this while also starting to feel annoyed at Yang for bringing Ruby into it, Gerald breathed out a sigh and took a mental note to fully talk this out with her._ "So yeah, that's pretty much it, really. I'll be back in a few hours, it won't take me that long with the parts. I'll try talking Yang out of her "Revenge-clubbing" some more, maybe I'll get lucky and get through to her somehow. But if not, welp, I tri__ed." _He finished the main message.

But after noticing there was still some more text at the bottom of the note, he continued.

_"P.S. I made you some pancakes just in case you might get hungry. With love, Ruby-Rubes. :-D"_

"Aww, " Not at all caring how out of place his gruff voice was for it, Gerald cooed at his youngest's gesture. ", thanks, Rubes." And with that said, he placed the note down on the table and removed the sheet. And true to her word, as always, there were indeed three pieces of blueberry pancakes stacked on the plate. "I wish I could savor this, but duty calls." Shrugging, he grabbed all three pieces and shoved them into his mouth.

It took all but six seconds to chew it all, and as soon as he was able to start swallowing, he moved towards the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk. He then took a large glass mug from their cupboard and poured all the milk into it. "Never drink straight from the carton, " He recited one of his late father's teachings, his voice a little muffled due to the contents in his mouth, as he threw the carton in the recyclable trash bin before downing all the milk. ", etiquette maketh's the man." He grabbed a fresh paper towel from their paper towel dispenser and used it to wipe the remnants of milk from his lips.

"Right," He said to no one in particular with a nod as he cleaned the glass mug. ", time to to get a move on." Placing the mug back where it belongs, Gerald then walked out of the kitchen and into their living room. "Oh but first, " Smiling, he spotted Zwei still sitting on the couch and wagging his little tail as soon as he saw him. ", I gotta see to you, little guy." He stopped in front of the corgi and kneeled down.

"So Zwei, I'm heading out. Do you think you can man the house for me while I'm gone?"

"Arf!" The little guy responded with a happy jump. And with the way his head bobbed up and down when he landed, it looked like he was also nodding.

"Hehe, thanks, boy." With an amused chuckle, he rubbed the underside of Zwei's chin before standing back up. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Ruby will probably get here sooner than me though so don't worry. And if you ever go hungry, you know where to look. You got that, boy?" Another bark and a jump was his reply.

With another chuckle, Gerald rubbed Zwei's little head before heading towards the front door. He opened it and stepped out but stopped halfway through and looked back.

"I'm off!" He heard Zwei answer back with a bark. And this got Gerald to smile to himself as he stepped fully outside and close the door behind him. "Now then..." He stepped 10 paces forward before taking a stance that runners use to sprint. "... let's go."

Gerald shot off the ground, shattering the ground he was just standing on beforehand and blew large amounts of dust in the air in the process before disappearing into the tree lines in a blur.

And so, with speeds far surpassing Ruby's, Gerald of Patch made his way towards the Tavern located deep in the mountain ranges North of Patch. Not knowing in the slightest of what was to come.

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**A/N: Onward. **


	3. Chapter 1 Page 2

**A/N: Just a little something to go by. A legend, of sorts to keep track of the Fictional Characters from other forms of media that I will be "borrowing" for a disclosed amount of time.**

**•Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds): I'm pretty sure almost everyone knows who this is. This is the man behind the mask of the iconic movie hero-vigilante "Deadpool". But for the story's sake, we're going with the version where he wasn't mutated and still retained his human looks. So yeah, basically Ryan Reynolds.**

**•Vanessa (Morenna Baccarin): Wade's wife in the movie Deadpool and is his wife here in the story also.**

**•Vesemir: Is a fictional character from the "Witcher" series. But for visual's sake, I'm using the Vesemir from the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt game.** **He's also Wade's father in this. **

**•Lady Olenna (Diana Rigg): The Queen of Thorns herself. An iconic character in the once smash hit HBO series "Game Of Thrones". If you don't know what she looks like or who she is in general then I suggest you first research her before you continue.** **She's also Wade's mom. **

**•Decim: Is the white-haired bartender in the anime "Death Parade"** **and he's the Uni-Guild's Bartender. **

**•Willaim "Billy" Butcher (Karl Urban but with a hella lot of facial hair): From the Amazon Prime original TV series "The Boys"****. In this story of mine, he's the second in command of the Vale Special Forces and is Grace Mallory's most trusted. More on her soon. He also has a cockney accent. And I apologize profusely if I end up insulating any actual British people that read this story and think the dialogues I wrote for Butcher are absolute trash. Just know I tried my best to use my innate knowledge of the British language and resorted mostly to google translate. Please don't crucify me, English people. XD**

**•Born Marvin a.k.a. "Mother's Milk" (Las Alonzo): An afro American character in the same Amazon Prime series.**** In this story, he's close friends with Butcher and the rest of the members of their group.**

**•Frenchie (Tomer Capon): In the same Amazon Prime series his character is only ever called "Frenchie" so to give him a name I decided to use the name of the actor who plays him. And thus, Tomer Capon. He's close friends with Butcher and the team.**** And here is my story, he's got a thick French accent. **

**•Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid): The youngest member of Butcher's group but he's older than Gerald by a few years. He's from the same Amazon Prime series and like in the show he's sorta friends with Butcher and close to the team.**

**And that's all for now.**

**Continue. **

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**BOOK 1: Silver and Steel**

**Chapter 1: Big Brother**

**Page #2**

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When one runs at speeds too fast for even the eye to follow it doesn't really take that long for that someone to reach wherever it is that they're going. Such can be said for Gerald of Patch. It took him no more than 10 minutes to reach his intended destination. Built on top of a plateau and surrounded by mountains to act as its natural barrier against the elements, and located approximately 12 miles Northward from the Rose-Xiao Long household, was the "Tavern". A large two-story building mostly made out of oak with a cemented foundation. To Gerald, it almost looked exactly like their cottage home. The only difference was that the Tavern was bigger, wider too, and unlike their Cottage, it was colored in a monochromatic way.

"Hmm." With a grunt mixed in with a short exhale, Gerald walked towards the Tavern's oaken double doors. "Hope I'm not that late." Not bothering to stop, he placed both hands on each door and pushed them apart.

And much to his surprise, the Tavern was devoid of its usual atmosphere. The chairs and tables lied empty, the torches and chandeliers unlit, no one was doing a handstand on the second-floor railings, and there wasn't a single member of the Uni-Guild to be found.

"Ah, sir Gerald. Glad to see you finally arrive."

All except for one.

There standing behind the bar stationed in between the stairs leading to the Tavern's second floor and the stairs leading down to the sub-level floor was a white-haired man wearing a bartender uniform.

"Decim, " Gerald called out in greeting to the guild's bartender and occasional waiter as he crossed the threshold and made his way closer to the bar ", have they been waiting for me long?"

"Approximately 52 minutes have passed since the arrival of Master Vesemir's guests." The guild's trusty bartender answered astutely. Almost in a monotone manner, in fact. "But if you want to know how much time had passed since your call with Master Wade, then it has only been roughly 22 minutes and counting."

"Ah, I see. Thank you, Decim." Nearing the bar, Gerald gave Decim a nod and a small smile. "I'll go on up then. Wish me luck." He continued as he moved past the bar and continued up the stairs.

"Good luck then, sir." Gerald heard Decim call out behind him.

Arriving on the second floor, which was an assortment of numerous doors presumably leading to a number of compartments, Gerald wasted no time in making his way towards one particular door. A door made out of a smooth looking timber that had metal reinforcements. And what's more, this door had a metal engraving at its center. It was the image of a wolf. The emblem of the Uni-Guild and the symbol of the Wilson family.

"Right, " Grasping the door's knob and pausing for a second, he said steeled himself for whatever awaited him on the other side. ", let's see what's the job this time." In one motion, the young man turned the knob and pushed the door open.

He had expected a number of things. Things like walking in on Vesemir and also his wife talking to his "guests" as Wade and Vanessa chilled in the corner, bantering like an old married couple. Which they were, in retrospect. He also expected to see a fight midway from breaking loose. With all them, bar Vesemir and his wife, armed and ready. After all, with Wade Wilson, it's always either an entertainer extraordinaire or a taunting douche bag. And he's had to clean up one too many problems the latter one had brought unto him and to the guild as a whole. He expected all of that and more when he pushed open the door.

But the sight that greeted him was something that he did not expect.

There in the middle of the room, just a few feet away from Vesemir's desk, were Wade and his wife Vannessa. To be precise, they were on the bearskin rug with Vannessa on her back and legs wrapped around Wade's neck smiling all the while as the man himself raised her lower body up by holding onto her hips. Oh, and they were halfway from getting fully naked too, so there's that. And though he was admittedly a novice in the regard of sex, he was pretty damn sure that this was something that could be found in a certain media covering said topic.

"And remember gentlemen, " Waid addressed the four men standing across from him and Vanessa. ", if you're going to-"

"Ah, Gerald!" With a smile, Olenna Wilson, the wife of Vesemir Wilson, called out in her usual glee from behind Vesemir's desk when she saw him open the door. Coincidentally, this also got Wade and Vanessa to stop whatever in all hell they were doing and also got the four men watching them with rapt attention to redirect their gazes to him. "Vesemir! Wake up you old galoot, he's here." Olenna slapped the armrest of the chair Vesemir was sitting on.

Speaking of, Gerald took notice of how Vesemir himself seemed to have slicked his long white hair back and tied it in what he can only assume was either a bun or a ponytail. He also appeared to be wearing his signature chainmail infused leather armoring and he would willfully hazard a guess that he had his blades somewhere behind his desk.

"You know I wasn't sleeping, dear" Vesemir, the Master of the Uni-Guild and founder of the Tavern, replied with a grunt as he opened his eyes and sat up straight on his chair. "I know you don't mind but I'd rather not bear witness to my boy granting sexual pointers to our clients while also performing said pointers." He continued before smiling towards Gerald. "I'm glad you're here now Gerald. We've plenty to discuss.",

"Well, now you arrive, " Wade addressed Gerald accusingly as he helped Vanessa up her feet. ", just as we were about to get to the fun part too."

"Hey, G." Vanessa greeted the young raven-haired man as she got up and dusted herself off.

Trying his best to real himself back to the task at hand, while also doing his best to not stare at Vanessa's chest for more than two seconds, Gerald coughed awkwardly to the side and stepped inside before closing the door behind him.

"I have no idea how the hell you two ended up doing what you were just doing right now but I don't wanna know." Gerald shook his head as he made his way closer towards the barely clothed couple. "But by the Brothers, PLEASE, clothe yourselves."

"Hey, don't worry champ," Wade reassured with a shoo of his hands as his wife gathered up their clothes. ", we'll be outta your hair real quick. We'll just move on to the other room and..hehe, finish what we started." He continued with his lips sucked in and both of his eyebrows raised repeatedly as he looked at his wife knowingly.

"Oooohhh, definitely." Vanessa agreed a little too enthusiastically.

_Jeez, these two are horny as fuck. _Gerald thought to himself as he shook his head with crossed arms. _Bu__t then again, when have these two ever NOT been horny when they're in the same room?_

Never. Since their first meeting all but six years ago until now.

"Well, thank you, my son and you too as well Vanessa darling for entertaining us for as long as you have." Olenna thanked the young couple warmly in her motherly fashion. "But now I'm afraid we must require the room for our business." She finished, gesturing for them to leave the room.

"No need to tell us twice Lady Olenna." With her clothes and Wade's tucked under her left arm, she grabbed her husband's hand and tugged him in tow as she made her way to the door. "See ya later, G." She winked at Gerald as she and her husband moved past him.

"Good luck, buddy." Smiling, Wade managed to deliver a friendly slap to Gerald's armored bicep before he was tugged past him.

"Thanks, Wade. You too with..." Facing them as they went, Gerald's face scrunched up in concentration to find the right term to use. "...with..uh, whatever you two are gonna get up to." He answered at last with a shrug of his shoulders.

And all he got for an answer were amused laughs from the young couple before they exited the room and shut the door behind them.

"Well, " Gerald started off with a breath and faced back towards the six people in the room looking to him. ", I stand by what I said earlier. I do not want to know what they were doing and why they were doing it in the first place. So let's just-"

"Oh and as always, " Interrupting Gerald mid-speech and making him turn back around, the door creaked back open with Wade peeking his head back in. ", you're welcome to join us, Gerald. We'll be in the cellar in case you wanna have some of that OOMPH before you leave. We could like, do a sandwich maneuver and you'll be the top bread. Awesome, yeah?"

"Uh...y-yeah-yeah sure, Wade. I'll..uh, think about it." Gerald uneasily replied.

He had been friends with the two of them for years now. And while he likes to think that he's gotten somewhat used to their hypersexual tendencies, there are just some times when he can't keep up. Even until now.

"Alright! See ya, buddy, love ya!" Wade happily exclaimed as he retracted his head out of the doorway and shut the door right after.

There was a pregnant pause in the air that made Geralt hesitant at first to turn back around. But luckily, his saving grace came in the form of the aged Queen of Thorns herself.

"Ha-ha! Honestly, my boy, I've no idea how in the bloody blazes you and my son came to be friends in the first place. Let alone the best of friends." Lady Olenna Wilson, a woman who despite her age is still renowned 'till this day as a woman who's wit is as sharp as her tongue, proclaimed in an amused tone as she clasped her hands together. The woman herself was wearing her signature rose embroidered golden dress. "But alas, such is Lady Destiny, a mystery to all and an answer to no one. Hm-hm."

"Yeah, well, it's...uh, it's a pretty long story," Gerald answered with a cough, as he turned back to face the Mr. and Mrs. of the Tavern. "And I honestly don't think you really ought to know what happened on that day, Lady Olenna." He continued with a shake of his head as he thought back the numerous series of unfortunate events that led their destinies to each other.

This made the Queen of Thorns laugh into her hand as she too shook her head in amusement.

"Well, dis 'as been pret'y dandy an' all but 'ows about we get ter' business already?" One of the men, the one standing front and center of their little four-man group, spoke up in an accent that Gerald couldn't quite place. "We've been waitin' 'ere an awful while an' we're sorta on da clock 'ere, so we'd appreciate it if ya stop runnin' yer mowfs fer five minutes so we can finally talk."

Doing his best to suppress the feeling of his temper slowly spiking up, Gerald narrowed his eyes a little as he faced the man who had just spoken. "Yes, of course. Sorry for the delay." He said to the man. And he couldn't help the tiniest makings of a growl mixing in with his voice. "Please, " Gerald gestured to the man. ", speak away."

"Fuckin' finally." Gerald heard the man mutter under his breath as he stepped closer to the young Branwen. "Alright, " The man continued, now using his normal voice. ", top ov da mornin' to ya kid, " He greeted in a way that made it too damn obvious he didn't actually mean it. ", da name's William Butcher. And deese fine gentlemen behind me are me associates." The man now known as William Butcher gestured to the men behind him.

From what Gerald could see, this William man had a tanned skin tone and dark hair almost as black as his. He was also wearing a black trench coat with a patterned shirt underneath. And as for his bottom attire, he wore trousers and a pair of boots colored in the same way as his coat. Most of all his facial hair gave him the usual gruff kind of look Gerald had seen many times before.

"Hum on then, don't be a bunch ov wussy cunts, " Butcher addressed his so-called "associates". ", introduce yaahrselves."

"Oh! Uh...hiya there, " The man on the right stepped forward first with a stammer. ", my name's Hughie Campbell and yeah, like Butcher here said, we're..uh..sorta kinda like friends."

"Oh ow, me 'eart," Butcher said in a dull tone as he slapped his hand over his heart. ", really feelin' da love there, Hughie."

Hughie himself looked like he could easily pass off as a simple citizen. What with his looks and his choice of clothing. He had fair skin and brown hair. And his attire consisted that of a gray-colored shirt, brown pants, and black tic-tac shoes.

"Bahnjour, mahn ahmi." The man on the right, a man Gerald noticed that was slightly shorter than Hughie, stepped forward and greeted in a language he was certain he had heard before once or twice before. "My name ees Tahmair Cahpahn, but my friends, zese fuckers right here, just cahll me Frenchie. Nice to meet you, gahrcahn geant."

This man had pale white skin and more or less the same shade of brown as Hughie's hair. Though due to his semi bald hair cut it made it a little harder to tell for sure. He wore a brown leather jacket over a white shirt and also wore a pair of dark gray denim pants with matching loafers.

"Guess I'm up last, " The final man behind Hughie and Frenchie spoke up. ", my name's Born Marvin. But my friends just call me M.M. for short."

This man stood taller than both Hughie and Frenchie but was give or take the same height as Butcher. He also appeared to be of Vacuan decent, judging by the man's dark skin tone. He wore a gray fitting sweatshirt paired with dark trousers. And unlike the rest of the three, he wasn't wearing shoes. Instead, he wore a pair of bright blue flip flops.

"Zat neecknahme of hees stahnds fahr mahthair's meelk, just so you know. " Frenchie said to Gerald with a small laugh.

"Fuck off, Frenchie." Marvin, or Mother's Milk as they've said, cursed at the smaller man with crossed arms and a shake of his head.

"Whaht? I'm just messeng weeth you beeg guy, you hahve to learn how to loosen up or you'll stahrt to go bahd. You know, like meelk." Frenchie continued with a grin.

"All right, " Knowing full well where that was going, Butcher spoke up and stopped Frenchie and Born from throwing hands. ", introducshun's done. So let's cut ter da chase."

"Agreed," Vesemir spoke up and grabbed Gerald's attention. "Gerald, these men you see before you may not seem like it at first glance but they are elite members of the VSF. And they're here with a Hunt we simply just cannot afford to refuse."

"The Vale Special Forces?" Gerald couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked back to the four men and focused his Aura to his eyes. And true enough, he saw that each of the men had their Aura unlocked. And it wasn't an impressive sight by any means, but the mere fact that they had it unlocked in the first place made the idea of them being members of the VSF slightly believable for Gerald. "Well, I'll be, " The young Branwen acknowledged with a surprised scoff. ", as far as I know, this is the first time the Military has ever reached out to us. What changed?" He eyed Butcher for an answer.

The reason for Gerald's surprise and question derives from the flux of the natural order that many in the kingdom of Vale have long since considered being the norm. Like how both the Military and the Huntsman factions have always dealt with their own specific enemies.

The former of the two would always be at the forefront of Human related threats to the safety and livelihood of the Kingdom such as Civil-War, Gang Wars, Terrorists, and the Criminal Empire itself. Whilst the Huntsman factions mostly deal with the Monsters of Darkness, the Grimm. With the exception of the council hiring a small number of Huntsmen to aid in some political skirmishes. Like the current case of Hunting down Roman Torchwick being a prime example of that.

And then there's Gerald's Faction. The Bounty Hunters. They essentially deal with both Human and Grimm related problems for a price that, while still quite pricey, is more affordable than hiring a Huntsman and arguably better than waiting for the Council to dispatch the Military. And for the longest time or as much as Gerald himself is aware of, both the Huntsmen and Military factions have never approached the Bounty Hunters for any sort of help.

So needless to say, the young Branwen was quite intrigued and most of all wary of this development. And for reasons that he could not decipher, he had a feeling that whatever was the cause of this change, it was something big.

"White Fang," Butcher answered, evenly gazing back at Gerald with just as much seriousness. ", an' befawer ya ask us any further quesshuns, it's classified." He continued without so much as a pause.

Gerald looked to Vesemir and his wife Olenna for clarification.

"I'm afraid that's all they're willing to..SHARE..with us for now, my boy." The Queen of Thorns said to Gerald. "But the gist of it is, the White Fang have bordered up themselves somewhere beyond the outer rims. Where exactly? We don't know. As our little friend over there said, it's "classified". Ha, honestly." She shook her head at the last part.

"Yes, but don't worry Gerald." This time it was Vesemir's turn to address the young Branwen. "These men were sent by an old friend of mine-"

"Friend, he says. Hm-hm." Lady Olenna interrupted with a roll of her eyes and a chuckle.

"Yes, " Offering only a raised brow to his wife, Vesemir, clearing his throat, continued. ", her name is Grace Malllory. She's the Head Director of the VSF and I'm willing to pay good money she's the one who sent these gentlemen to us. And she's trustworthy."

Gerald looked to the four so-called elites of the VSF and studied them for few seconds before facing back to Vesemir.

"If she's so trustworthy then why didnt she come here herself?" The young man asked with a quirked brow.

"It's 'cause she left me in charge ov dis whole operashun," Butcher answered, making Gerald turn to face him. "And it's 'cause she's got tonnes mawr impawtan' matters ter tend ter van wastin' 'er time dealin' wiv a pack ov wild rodents."

"Its the White Fang. A terrorist organization that threatens the Kingdom on a daily basis. I can't think of a more important matter than taking them down." Gerald reasoned as doubt and skepticism started to fill his mind. "Or is there something more to this you're hiding?"

Though they tried to be subtle about it, Gerald didnt fail to notice how Frenchie and Mother's Milk tensed up once he had uttered his question. But what sealed the deal was the man Hughie's reaction. He shuffled nervously in place and swallowed, hard.

"As I said, it's classified." Butcher stepped closer towards Geralt, face neutral and calm. "Why? Ya' too afraid of me to believe me word fer it?" He taunted as he took more and more steps closer towards the young Branwen. "Am I really seein' dis right? THE Gerald ov Patch, too afraid ov little ol' me?"

_Calm yourself. _With a suppressed grunt, Gerald reprimanded himself in his head as Butcher came closer to him._ Don't_ _lash out. Don't be brash. Just ride it out and let him talk himself out. _

"I mean come on now, " Now directly in front of Gerald, Butcher looked up at him and locked eyes. ", we've 'eard so much ov yaaahr victories over da years. An' da titles yew got from 'em. The Dark Knight, Evil's fear, Grimm Slayer-"

"Bane of the shadows." Mother's Milk continued.

"Mahnstair huntair." Frenchie.

"Uh..." Hughie drawled out as he tried to recall any more if the monikers Gerald had. Unfortunately, this got all eyes to focus on him and it only made it all the worse for him to concentrate. "...uhm..t-the-the..uh...Oh! The Undaunted Savior! Yeah, you know, from that time when you saved the Town of Shiganshina from a Mistralean Over-Lord that wanted to conquer the Outer Colonies of Mistral and everything and..and ah.." Noticing that Butcher was giving him the "shut-up already" look, Hughie gradually stopped talking and clamped his lips together before bowing his head down in silence.

"As I was sayin', " Looking back to Gerald and gazing up at him, Butcher continued. ", you've stacked up one 'ell ov a reputashun. It's what brought us 'ere in da first place." Butcher explained to the young Branwen, eyes focused on his unblinking and unwavering. "So, do us a fuckin' solid, kid. Stop bein' a skeptic-ass cunt an' live up ter be da badass legend yer supposed to be. Otherwise, " He finally blinked and broke eye contact with Gerald before stepping back from him. ", I wan' me money back, an' I wan' da aaahrs ov me life lost listenin' ter those damned bard songs abaht you."

"Money?" Gerald questioned the trenchcoat-wearing man. "What money?"

"Oh, he means this, sweety," Olenna spoke up, reaching underneath the table for something before bringing back up an extra-large metal briefcase right after.", and I know you'll just love what's in here." She continued with a chuckle as she unlocked the case, opened it, and turned it so the young Branwen could see the contents of the case.

And true to her word, Gerald couldn't help but be amazed the second he saw the shiny sheen reflecting off the ingots inside. He walked closer towards the desk, eyes focused solely on the case and its insides. And when he was finally right in front of the opened case, Lady Olenna leaned back on her chair with a smile on her face.

"Impossible..." He whispered as he gazed down on the numerous ingots neatly stacked inside the case. Large ingots that were made out of a metal material any Bounty Hunter worth their salt would drool for. "...is this..is this actually Atlesiumite?" Gerald looked up at Olenna and Vesemir for confirmation.

"Hmm." Both of them hummed with nods of confirmation.

Atlesiumite. A rare type of metal that's said to be mined only ever in the Frozen Mountains of the Solitas Continent. This metal is world-renowned to be the strongest metal to ever exist. It's essentially weightless, even in its raw form, but virtually indestructible. And to Gerald's knowledge, the price range of pure Atlesiumite in this day and age is ridiculously high. To put it in simple terms, if he managed to sell a mere pebble-sized piece of Atlesiumite he'd have enough Lien earned to provide Yang and Ruby for the next 30 or so years. But with one ingot of this stuff? He'd have more than enough money for Ruby and Yang's great-great-grandchildren.

"An' there's mawer where that came from," Butcher spoke up as Gerald picked up an ingot of Atlesiumite and inspected it closely. "All's I need yew ter do is follow me lead an' stop bein' a skeptic cunt, get yaaahr shi' together while yer at it, 'elp me 'un' down some anthropomorphic vermin 'an you'll be filthy stinkin' rich for life." Putting the ingot back in place, Gerald turned back around to see Butcher and his band of three merry men had walked closer to him. "Does that sound simple enuff fer ya, kid?"

Grunting, the young Branwen scrunched up his face in concentration as he once again crossed his arms over his cuirass. In general, it did indeed sound simple enough. Help Butcher fight the White Fang, take them down, keep him and his men alive at the end of it, and he'd be set for life. He wanted to take this job, he really did, for a lot of reasons. Mainly so that he could help in taking down the White Fang and get paid a fortune for it.

But he just knew that there was something else going on. And he did not like the idea of taking a leap of faith with no knowledge whatsoever of what awaited him at the bottom. It's the things that no one expects that usually gets them six feet under the ground. And the thought of potentially leaving Yang and Ruby by themselves scared him more than anything, as it always has.

"Gerald, " Vesemir called for the young Branwen's attention, to which he was quick to give. ", I know what you're thinking right now and I understand," The Old Wolf nodded to Gerald with a solemn look. ", but these people need you. Not any of the other Hunters of the Guild, YOU. I know Malllory, and if she sent these men to get you and you alone, then like us she believes in what you're capable of and that you are more than enough for whatever it is that they need to face."

"True, " Not missing a beat, Lady Olenna spoke up. ", out of the many Hunters we've had over the years of our lives, you've by far stood out from the rest of them." She smiled warmly at the young man as she sat back up straight on her seat. "And we're the best Guild in this Continent, after all, so it's for the best that we send in our best. Wouldn't you say, young Gerald?"

He nodded slowly. He was still worried about the unknown factor in the whole equation, an unknown that he was just sure would become very known soon enough, and he feared for what it would bring. Nevertheless, Gerald turned back towards Butcher and gazed long and hard at the bearded man.

"Well? What's yaaahr answer, kid?"

Gerald let out a sigh mixed in with a grunt. This was it. Even with the fear and doubt worming their way into his mind, there was no going back now.

"When do we leave?" Gerald of Patch uncrossed his arms and asked.

* * *

**CONTINUE. **


	4. Chapter 1 Page 3 Pt 1

**First things first, Yang here in this chapter, and a few more others, will be wearing an outfit that has never been seen in the show before.** **So in the very likely off-chance that I'll fail spectacularly in describing the outfit please type in the URL below, remember to not include the open and closing parenthesis', in your URL bar and you'll immediately see for yourselves what the outfit really looks like. And just foreword, there's a reason why she's wearing something like that. You'll find out soon enough. **

( .ph/pin/572942383826413404/)

**Now, continue.**

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**/****~•~•~•~•~•~****/**

**Book 1: Silver and Steel**

**Chapter 1: Big Brother**

**Page #3**

**/****~•~•~•~•~•~****/**

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In the mid-morning hours, the sun bears down unto the City of Vale. The crowned jewel and capital of the Kingdom. It had what you'd expect a city would have. Skyscrapers reaching towards the heavens, well-constructed road work, swarms of people moving from one place to another, numerous malls, shops, clubs, restaurants, almost everything that you could think of, it was here in Vale. And like most thriving Cities, the city of Vale also had multiple landing ports for Bull-Heads and other flight transport vessels.

In one of these landing ports, an Air-Bus that had traveled all the way from Patch safely docked onto the asphalt ground. A few seconds after, it's exit doors opened and a wide enough rampway lowered for the passengers to walk down on. Not long after, the said passengers began filing their way out of the Air-Bus and began making their way down on the ramp. This kept on going for a few minutes, the number of people making their way down getting smaller and smaller until everyone had safely un-boarded the flying vessel.

Or at least, everyone excluding Yang Xiao Long and her younger sister, Ruby Rose.

And speaking of, the busty blonde was wearing a different outfit on this day. An outfit that, in all absolute honesty, was borderline skimpy.

No longer did she don on her usual get-up. Instead, her attire now consisted that of a pair of bright red flared heels. An ink-black one-legged leather bodysuit that showed off way too much of the young woman's cleavage and it also apparently had a small metal chain that worked as its belt and also had miniature black chains that served as its shoulder straps which were connected to the thick gray leather choker necklace she wore. A dark leather corset that spanned over her suit and her entire torso. An un-buttoned white-colored short-sleeved crop top polo over her bodysuit that had her personal insignia, a burning heart, engraved at the polo's left side. And last but definitely not the least, Black leather fingerless gloves that had metal knuckle reinforcements.

All in all, despite it being somewhat a little too radical, Yang's chosen attire fit her to a T. So much so that as she fully stepped out of the exit and stood tall on the ramp, she earned more than a handful of prolonged gazes from the populace within the range of her vicinity. Some of them were envious, some disgusted, while some were...well, to put it crassly, understandably aroused. But best we don't go into full detail in that regard.

"Hey Rubes, " With her hands on her cocked hips, Yang Xiao Long called out to the younger sister who she knew was still inside the Air-Bus. ", don't mean to be a stickler for the time but let's get a move on. If we hurry I can still drop you off at your weapon's shop and still make it for my meet-up." Without turning away, she heard the familiar whooshing of Ruby's Semblance behind her.

"Alright alright, I'm here." Ruby Rose said to Yang as she appeared out of the rose petal whirlwind of her Semblance and stood beside her.

"Finally," Yang said to Ruby with a grin as she looked down on her. "What took you so long? Did you fall down the toilet or something, Rubes?" The busty blonde laughed as she hooked an arm around Ruby before walking down the ramp with her little sister in tow.

"Oh, ha-ha-ha Yang, very funny. " Ruby groaned. "I only took so long because I was busy apologizing to Captain Philipps for the mess that YOU left in the corridors." She reprimanded her older sister with narrowed eyes. "Seriously, I know they were pervs but why the heck would you knock them out and then leave them literally hanging on the walls? And buck naked to boot!" The younger sibling demanded with an exasperated look.

"First of all, watch your language young lady." Yang started off with a warning finger. "Second, those basta-" A pause. "-those ruffians totally deserved what they got to them." She corrected. "No one gang's up on me with nefarious ideas in their heads and think they'll get away with it scratch-free." With her free hand, she flicked back her blonde mane-like hair with a flourish.

"Okay-yeah, I totally support you teaching them a lesson but couldn't you...you know, toned it down a notch? Just by a little bit?" Ruby's look of exasperation slowly turned into a wincing one as she recalled the sight of eight unclothed unconscious young men hanging off one of the corridor walls of the Air-Bus. "I mean, what if Gerald hears about this?"

Yang stopped walking just short of stepping off from the vessel's lowered metal ramp, which due to her arm being wrapped around Ruby's shoulders had the young Rose stopping too, before letting out an explosive sigh. She said nothing and, knowing her sister well enough, Ruby decided to wait for her to speak back up first.

"I don't wanna talk about him, Rubes. Not right now." The blonde finally spoke up after a pause that lasted a good few seconds. And Ruby didn't fail to notice how her sister's hand gripped at her shoulder. She knew this wasn't intentional on her sister's part but the fact that she still did it worried her. For more reasons than one. "And besides, " She continued as she, and in extension Ruby, began walking forward and fully off the ramp. ", if he were here he'd have done way worse than me. So if anything, those schmucks got off easy."

"Okay yeah, he's definitely gonna be pissed when he hears about this." The young Rose agreed with a nod as she and Yang continued walking out of the Landing Port and into the City grounds. "But what I mean, is THIS." She gestured to the blonde's clothes.

"Oh please, " Yang scoffed with a roll of her eyes. ", I can dress however I want. If he's got a problem with it then that's all on him. Not my fault he can't understand shit." The young Xiao Long continued. And the young Rose didn't even bother calling out her sister's earlier statement on uttering profanity. She didn't have to. And she honestly didn't want to.

This was one of those times that Ruby had dubbed as the "Hot-Iron times". Her older siblings, Gerald and Yang, would always end up "fighting" like this whenever the former of the two would succumb to something while on a hunt and leave Yang worrying. And as the young Rose had come to learn through the years, Yang reacted to worry poorly. Very poorly.

But she understood why. Rusty as she may be in the form of socializing with other people, the 15-year-old was by no means naive when it came to understanding the WHY of Yang's anger. She hated worrying. She hated it because she said it'd always remind her of THAT day. Ruby was too young at that time to fully understand what THAT day meant but now, with her older and garnishing more and more knowledge in life, she did. Or at least, she believed she did.

"Yang, " The young Rose started with a sigh as the two of them stopped on the sidewalk with Yang hailing a Cab. ", you know I get it. I really do. But come on, don't you think you're going too far this time?" As the Cab Yang had hailed stopped in front of them, Ruby once again gestured to her sister's clothes.

The older of the two let out what could only be described as a grumble fused with a sigh before she let go of her younger sister and opened the Cab's door for her. "Just get it in, Rubes. Please." She said to Ruby, and the younger girl just nodded before stepping inside. "Fuck damn it, Gerald." The busty blonde looked up to the sky with a glare as she cursed in a whisper. "This is all on you." She finished with a click of her tongue before stepping inside.

"Where to, ladies?" The Cab driver asked them as Yang closed the door and made herself comfortable on her seat.

"Uh, The Stark's, please," Ruby answered.

"Ah, the Weapon's Shop?" The Cab driver clarified as he began driving off.

"Yep, that one." The young Rose nodded with a smile.

"Alright then, " The Cab driver chirped in a happy tone as he activated the taximeter. ", Stark's here we come." In an upbeat manner, the Cab driver began humming to himself as the Cab made its way through the City streets.

Ruby leaned back on the cushioned seat and looked outside the Cab's window. The City atmosphere greeted her wherever direction she pointed her eyes. And she just kept on gazing out the window for a solid long while until she saw a family happily sitting on a bench quickly pass her field of vision as the Cab they were on zoomed past them. This got her to breathe out a sigh before looking to her sister. And unexpectedly, she saw that her sister had been doing the same thing as her. With one of her legs over the other and arms crossed over her chest, the blonde young woman simply gazed at the window on her side.

"Yang, " The young Rose broke the silence that had grown between them. A kind of silence that had made the Cab driver stop humming not a long while ago. ", it's still pretty far from Stark's. So how's about we talk about it?"

"Ruby..." The elder sister groaned, still looking out the window.

"Come on Yang, let's just talk. It's always better off when we talk it out, right?" The younger sibling was, of course, talking about the other "Hot-Iron" instances that had happened in the past and that every time all three of them just talked it out, things got quickly back to normal. Granted, Gerald wasn't here. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to try. "Please?" Ruby pleaded with her hands put together.

Yang looked to her younger sister with a frown on her face. But that frown quickly vanished as soon as she got a good look at Ruby's pleading look. And with the young Rose putting her hands together like that only pulled at the busty blonde's heartstrings all the more.

"Hey come on now, don't do that." Temperamental as she was and as frustrated as she was with her brother, Yang seeing Ruby pleading like that was too much for her to handle. "Come here, " The blonde said as she scooched closer to Ruby, wrapped her arm around her in a half-hug, and brought the young Rose's head to her chest with a tired sigh. ", sorry about this Rube's. I didnt mean to make you feel bad." She continued with a kiss to Ruby's head.

"I get it, Yang. I really do. And you know I do." Hugging back her sister by the waist, Ruby spoke softly. "I get worried about him too. But he always promises to come back to us, and he always has, hasn't he?"

"I know that, Rubes." With a deep sigh, the older sibling nodded in agreement. Yes, Gerald had indeed promised her his return when he had left for his Hunt three days prior. As he did the Hunt before that and the one before and so on and so forth all the way back to the first time he had left for his first hunt. "I just..." Only thing was, with every Hunt, Yang noticed that it took him longer and longer to come back to them. With his latest one lasting almost an entire day with no communication whatsoever. "...I just wish that he'd stop already."

Ruby wanted to disagree. From what she had heard from the other Hunters at the Tavern, her older brother had done so much good in the world. He had saved so many, protected so many, and had even become a legend to many. And she was so proud and happy to have someone like that as her brother. But she also knew where she was coming from with this. So instead of coming up with a defense that'd more than probably bring back her sister's anger at a full swing again, Ruby decided to just stay quiet for now and enjoy their hugging session.

Although, there was one thing that was still bothering her.

"Hey, Yang?" The young Rose called for her sister's attention. And said sister gave it quickly enough. The younger of the two looked up and locked her silver eyes onto Yang's lilac ones. "Why exactly are you clothed like this?"

"Oh...this.." Ruby saw her sister quickly avert her eyes with an awkward cough to the side. "Well," The busty blonde continued after a short pause. ", you..don't have to worry about it, Rubes. I'll be okay. Promise."

"Hmm, alright." The young Rose grumbled softly before comfortably placing her head back on one of Yang's considerable breasts. She didn't like the vagueness at play, but she trusted Yang. "Just don't do anything too reckless, you hear me? Gerald's not the only one that makes people worry a lot."

Instead of answering, Yang just huffed with a nod as she comforted her little sister's head with gentle rubs. The two of them knew that this wasn't really the end of it and that there was still a lot left to talk about. But even without vocalizing it, the two of them subconsciously decided to just enjoy the comfortable silence that ensued. There was going to be a time when they'd set things straight and back to normal. However, that time was not now.

"Uhm..." The Cab Driver, who had been silent for almost the entire trip, spoke up. "...Ma'am, I hope you and your daughter don't mind..a-and I know this completely out of the blue, " Both Yang and Ruby looked to each other with raised brows but remained silent. Surprised as they were with his sudden interest in talking to them, and with also how he had addressed them as a mother-daughter pair, the two sisters remained quiet to hear the Cab driver out. ", but uh, can I...can I offer my two cents of advice for you?"

"...Sure." Hesitating for only a few seconds, Yang answered.

"Okay, " The Cab driver sat a little straighter on his seat. ", I know this is really weird and all but it seems pretty obvious, well it is for me, that..uh, that you and your daughter are going through some stuff." The driver explained without looking away from his driving. "Pretty heavy stuff, if I might add. And like your daughter said, it's always best to talk things out. So that you'd..you know, feel a lot better afterward. And that's what I want to help you two with. To..help, talk this out."

Ruby broke out of Yang's hug and sat back up straight before looking to her sister. And Yang met her gaze with an arched brow and a confused look.

"Well..uhm, thanks for the offer, Mr..." The young Rose waited for the man behind the steering wheel to finish for her.

"Oh! Sorry for the late introduction." The Driver apologized with a chuckle and nod to the rearview mirror. "My name is Dopinder Sioni. Nice to meet you."

"Well nice to meet you too, Mr. Dopinder sir," Ruby answered back with a smile. "We really appreciate your concern, Sir, but-"

"It's honestly none of your business." Yang interrupted with arms crossed and the makings of a glare.

"Yang!" Ruby amended as she sent a little slap to Yang's bicep. "That's mean."

The busty blonde just threw her hands up weakly with a "What?" look on her face. For her, she wasn't being mean. True she could have at the very least worded that better, but, she believed that her response was warranted in this situation. After all, this was something of a matter between family. A personal thing. And something that definitely shouldn't be disclosed to the public so freely. So it would stand to reason that when someone, a total stranger at that, would suddenly meddle with your personal affairs straight out of the left-field you'd naturally be defensive. Also, Yang being an overprotective Mother-Hen, a characteristic forged from their unfortunate upbringing, played a huge role as to why she had responded the way she had.

"Ah, no it's okay. I understand." Dopinder assured both of them as he flashed a quick smile to the rearview mirror. "I'm sorry if I've stepped on something sensitive, Ma'am. It's just that..." Dopinder paused with a sigh. And his two passengers remained quiet to let him finish. One was out of respect and the other to wait and see where the Driver was going with this. "...I've been here in Vale for...a while, a long while now." He continued with another sigh. "And in my time here, I've learned a lot. And not just about technical things, but about people too."

"See the thing is, " Dopinder continued. ", I pick up people from dawn until dusk and I drive them to wherever they want to go. Some just take no more than a few minutes while some literally take me hours. And in those times, short or long as they may be, I like to talk to them. You know, for some conversation to help pass the time. The City's views are awesome but it can get boring after a while." A short chuckle from the man. "And I've been doing this for so long. So much that I've started to...notice stuff, about people. From the way they hail my Cab, the way they open the doors, the way they sit down on their seats, and just...just the way they behave the whole trip. And from those..what's the word?" Dopinder thought for a moment with pursed lips. "Uh...oh! Physical cues, yeah that's the one."

_Behavioral Cues._ Both Ruby and Yang corrected in their heads as the Cab continued to make its way through the City and towards their still quite faraway destination.

"And yeah, I know that it really isn't my place." Continued Dopinder. "But I also know that you guys are going through some rough times right now. And..." A short pause. "...how can I, knowing that, do nothing to help you? Maybe it won't be good advice, maybe you'll even forget about it the moment you step off my Cab, but I'd rather give it all the same. Like..you know, like what heroes do. Helping people out, one small deed at a time."

The two sisters had varying reactions to this.

Ruby, with awe in her silver eyes, giddily squealed into her tightly sealed mouth as she strained to keep herself from clapping. She wanted to do it, badly, but she also had the decency, and the experience, to not fan-girl over every heroicness she'd see. No matter how cool it was.

As for Yang though, her reaction was understandably different from that of her sister's. She had long been jaded with the term "heroes" but that didn't mean she couldn't understand it still. Yes, she was surprised, and a little skeptical, but never the less appreciated Dopinder's desire to "help" them.

"All right then," The elder sibling resigned. ", let's hear this advice you've got for me and my little-" She stopped herself. She was gonna hear Dopinder out, but that didn't mean she was going to start opening-up to him any time soon. "-my little girl."

Ruby shot a confused look at her sister and soundlessly mouthed "What?". In response to this, Yang winked at her younger sister and soundlessly shushed her by putting a finger to her mouth. The young Rose quickly caught on as to what her sister was planning and nodded before leaning back and away from the finger Yang had used to shush her mouth.

"All right but, just putting it out there, I'm not a professional therapist or anything-"

_Well, no shit captain obvious_. You're a Cab Driver for fuck's sake. Yang cursed in her mind.

"-and this is just some friendly advice from a seasoned Cab Driver." Dopinder continued with a friendly smile that could be seen from the rearview mirror. Blissfully oblivious to the inner machinations of Yang's thoughts on him.

"All right, here goes." He started off with a clear of his throat. "You don't have to correct me if I'm wrong, you have the right to keep the truth to yourselves." Another clear of his throat. "Now. From what I've picked up from your earlier talk with your daughter, it sounds like there's something troubling that's happening in your family. And, I speculate that it revolves around your Husband."

Close. But just a little far off from the whole truth. With the very limited amounts of information that Dopinder had, it was bound to happen that he'd get a number of things wrong at the first go. And added to that, Yang's little lie of her being a mother and Ruby being her daughter only further swayed the truth farther from the Cab Driver.

"And from what I can tell from your wording earlier, " Dopinder continued as the Cab slowed to a stop in the traffic brought by another red traffic light. ", you're husband sounds likes he's involved in the kind of work that brings him away from the two of you. And it sounds like it's been that way for a while. How long of a while? I'm..not really sure. But I am sure that it's been quite a bit since you sounded so tired when you said you wanted him to stop already."

The traffic light, what seemed like the tenth one they've come across since their departure, turned green and the vehicles at the very front of the traffic sped away and got things moving again.

"And I also think that this isn't the first time you and your husband have...uh..argued over this matter." He continued, expertly maneuvering and speeding past multiple vehicles. "And now, you and you're daughter are here in Vale, to blow off some steam and relieve the tension."

_Whoa_. Ruby thought. _That's so cool. He got a lot of details all wrong but he's got the idea right. This kinda reminds me of...GASP!_ Literally, the young Rose mentally exclaimed that last part in a gasping tone. _Oh my gosh! Volume 14 of X-Ray and Vav. When Vav went through a depressive state, he got helped out by a wise old sage that was also a Cab Driver! OH. MY. GOOOOOSHH!_

Meanwhile. As Ruby was locked yet again in another fierce battle of keeping her squeal of excitement and inner fangirl buried deep down, Yang too had her own thoughts on the matter.

_Well, shit. Color me surprised. He actually got most of it right._ Without her face betraying anything, Yang shifted in her seat as she stared directly at the rearview mirror to get a good look at Dopinder. The man that was their driver had brownish skin and black shaggy hair. And from what little of his body Yang could see, Dopinder was wearing a long-sleeved black striped white polo shirt. _He really doesn't look like it, but he's got one helluva sense of reasoning._

"Now I don't know how much of what I just said was true but I'm just gonna go out on a whim and say all of it was." With their Cab now moving up and across a long elevated highway, Dopinder continued with his talk. A talk that was turning more and more therapy-esque by the minute. "Ma'am," Without so much as looking away from his driving, Dopinder addressed Yang. ", I mean no offense by this. And if I'm wrong, then...well, I'm wrong. But I'll still say my piece and give you this advice."

"Sure, go ahead." The busty blonde flippantly said with a "go on" gesture of jer hands as she gazed out of the Cab's window.

Surprised, and honestly impressed, as Yang was with how well Dopinder had deciphered their family dilemma from a few exchanged words between her and Ruby, she believed that whatever this "helpful advice" that he had been hyping up this whole time would only tackle on something far away from the blonde's actual fear. Like seriously, he even concluded that she's a mother and Ruby her child. Let's say if this were to be compared to a game of darts, just how close could Dopinder hit the bullseye of Yang's actual fear?

"He's not going to leave you and your daughter, Ma'am. So I suggest that you stop worrying about that already. The sooner you do, the sooner you'll start to feel better."

Dead center of the dartboard, apparently.

This answer got Ruby to snap out of her daydreaming and tense up on her seat. She was once again surprised by how close Dopinder was reading their problem, but she had bigger worries to think about. The young Rose slowly turned to her sister, and the sight that greeted her was that of Yang glaring a hole into the back of the driver's seat.

_Uh-Oh_. That's not good. Ruby thought to herself as she bit her lower lip worriedly. _I think I should tell Mr. Dopinder to stop now. If not, things could get ugly._

"What makes you think that's what I'm really afraid of?" Yang asked leaning forward on her seat and invertedly silencing Ruby before she could even speak up herself. "Tell me, oh wise Cab Driver, " The blonde continued in an almost condescending tone, her glare not diminishing at all. ", out of everything else, what makes you so sure that my problem is with my..." Yang paused and cleared her throat. "...husband never coming back to me, huh? Why are you so sure that that's the case?"

Yang looked to the driver's seat, awaiting her answer unblinkingly while her little sister busied herself with glancing quickly from her to the driver's seat and Vise Versa. The young Rose was worried about the off chance of this blowing out of proportions, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel eager to see this through. Dopinder had already succeeded in finding out the main cause of their little family struggle, maybe he'd actually be able to help simmer down Yang's anger some more. And the younger girl would freely admit that she saw that prospect as an absolute win.

"W-w-well..." Dopinder stammered out before swallowing a lump in his throat. "...the fact that you're looking at me like your ready to beat me up is kinda telling, i-if I'm being honest." He chuckled nervously before gulping again.

_Fuck_. Yang cursed as she realized her mistake. Had she played it cool and simply waved off Dopinder's statement on her "Husband" leaving her, then he would've never known for sure. _Damn shit, he got me on that one_. She followed up with another curse as she clicked her tongue, loudly at that, and averted her gaze elsewhere before leaning back into her seat.

But of course, asking Yang Xiao Long not to worry about her brother's safety is essentially the equivalent of asking the ocean to stop being in the liquid phase. With knowledge on Gerald's line of work mixed in with her childhood trauma, to stop worrying for her family's well being is next to near impossible.

"I'm not doing this to be a pest, Ma'am." Despite his palms already starting to sweat and arms slightly shaking, Dopinder, a normal Human being that would literally be obliterated with a slap from Yang, continued. "But I meant what I said; You should stop worrying about him all the time. Worrying leads to stress, stress leads to problems, and problems lead to many things. Thing's like..." Weakly he showed a nervous smile to the rearview mirror. "...things like an unsanctioned therapy session on a Cab." He chuckled at his own joke. And surprisingly, Ruby did too.

"All-right, all-right, " Grumbled the blonde with a roll of her eyes. ", you got it right, whoop-dee-fucking-doo. But guess what?" She sharply turned away from the passing views of the window and towards the driver's seat. "You're not the first, and I'm sure as hell you're not gonna be the last, that's told me that crap advice."

"Yang, " Ruby softly placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. ", calm down. Let's hear him out. Please."

The blonde huffed and nodded before gently squeezing her little sister's hand.

_Phew, that was a close one._ The young Rose thought as she nervously rubbed her knee with her free hand. _All right, this was interesting at first but now it's getting pretty close to dangerous. So I think I should-" _

"Be that as it may, Ma'am" Dopinder cut off Ruby's internal monologue and quickly caught both sisters' attention. "It's still sound advice. It's why people keep telling you this over and over again in the first place. Because other than wait for him to return to you, what else can you do?" He cleared his throat. "And there's nothing wrong with worrying for the love of your life's return. It's normal. It's concrete proof of how much you really love each other. And the fact that you, Ma'am, worry this much for him, says nothing less of the genuine love you have with your husband.

Silently, both siblings listened intently to Dopinder. Ruby, reasoning that Yang had calmed down and wouldn't likely be punching their driver anytime soon, retracted the hand she had placed on her sister's shoulder and intertwined it with her other one. As for Yang, the blonde was, for some reason, choosing to gaze outside the window and making sure that the look on her face wouldn't be seen by either Dopinder or Ruby.

"As a matter of fact, you're exactly in the same spot my mother used to be, Ma'am. You see, my father used to be a Cab driver too. And before, Vale wasn't exactly as safe as it is today. Well, not that today's day and age is anything less than dangerous, " Proof of that being the ever-looming threat of Roman Torchwick, the growing dark forces of Grimm and the White Fang included. And of course, there are also those unseen forces out there in the shadows. Still waiting to be known. ", but dangerous all the same. And every day he would leave for work, my mother-bless her soul-, would at first worry herself sick whenever father left her sight. So much, that she would pace around our house a lot. But then one day, my mother and father had a talk about something. We were kind of too far to hear what they were saying and we were kids, so whatever bits we could hear it kinda flew over our heads." He let out a short laugh at this.

"And since that talk of theirs, my mother stopped with her pacing and started to waiting at our front porch. She'd sit there as my father drove off for work, and she'd sit there until he drove back home. She'd still find time to take care of my siblings and I of course, " He quickly added with a smile directed at the rearview mirror for his two passengers. ", but whenever she had free time, she would go back and sit on her favorite rocking chair at our front porch. And she'd wait." He let out a nostalgic chuckle at the memory of it. "I remember feeling bad for her, at first. But that all changed when she told me what she and my father had talked about."

"What did she say?" Without thinking, the young Rose eagerly asked as she leaned forward on her seat with her intertwined hands shaking in excitement.

"She said, " With a small chuckle at the young girl's eagerness, Dopinder continued. ", and I quote; My son, I used to fear for your father's safety a lot. And do not mistake me, I still do. But now, I do not fear as much as I did then." He cleared his throat. "And when I asked her why she told me it was because of what my father told her."

"Ooooh, what did he say?" Ruby once again eagerly urged with a smile that was growing more and more.

"I don't want to recount the exact wording my father had used because I'll just end up making it awkward." He chuckled. "But the gist of it is, he told my mother not to worry about his return. Because no matter how long the drive would take, no matter how far it would take him, no matter how many obstacles barring his path there would be, he would always drive back home to her. And if the Brother's themselves were to stand in his way, he'd run them over." He finished with a laugh.

"Whoa..." The young Rose couldn't help but be in awe. Not only by the fact that Dopinder's father sounded like he could exist in a romance novel but also because of how close his father's promise was to Gerald's own for Yang and her. "...your father sounds like a romantic," She followed up with a radiating smile.

"Oh, he was." Dopinder wasted no time in acknowledging it. And he did so with a smile nothing short of proud. "And he was that and more, even until the end."

Ruby could tell what he meant by that. The wording alone was telling enough, but with how his voice turned for the somber, it was all too clear. That's why she chose to wordlessly nod instead. And while she couldn't say the same for her sister, she was mostly sure that this was also why she chose to stay quiet.

"At least answer me this once, Ma'am." With a sniff of his slowly becoming stuffy nose, Dopinder picked up their talk after a moment's silence. ", do you love him?"

Ruby quickly looked towards her sister for her answer. And she had a good thought as to what it would be. After all, she was a first-hand witness as to how seriously Yang and Gerald upheld family.

"Yeah." The older sister answered. Finally looking away from the passing views of the city the window provided and towards the driver's seat. "I do."

"And how much do you think he loves you and your daughter?"

"Enough to kill every single Grimm in his way." Answered the busty blonde with no hesitation whatsoever.

_Heck yeah! _The young Rose cheered in her mind as she nodded to herself with a grin. _Gerald's been getting tough work these past few months, but he's still kept his promise_. And that's even made more impressive with the stories the other Hunters of the Tavern had told her about her brother. No matter how many or how powerful the enemy was, Gerald slew them all and made it home lickety-split.


	5. Chapter 1 Page 3 Pt 2

As for Dopinder, he finally had a good enough guess as to what Yang's "Husband" did for a living. If her remark on killing Grimm was anything to go by, then the Cab Driver was left to conclude with only one answer. A Huntsman, or something close to that regard. And he'd be lying if he ever said that this wasn't getting him excited. After all, how often does a civilian come close to meeting a professional Grimm slaying warrior? Granted he believed that this was merely the wife, but it was pretty close enough for him.

"And there you have it, Ma'am." He continued with a smile both sisters could see in the rearview mirror. "I'm not asking you not to worry, because it's everyone's right to worry for a loved one." He made sure to glance at Yang when he said this. "But I am asking you to have faith. Faith in your husband and faith in him returning to you, to the both of you, no matter what."

_Man, this is turning out to be better than I expected it to be. _The young Rose thought to herself as her grin grew into a toothy smile. She glanced towards Yang and saw something that made her cheery mood even more cheery. _Oh heck yeah, it got even better__!_

Ever since Gerald had returned from his latest Hunt three days ago, Yang would always have this look whenever Gerald's name would be mentioned in her vicinity. The kind of look that made you think you were about to get socked in the jaw if you so much say one wrong word to her. Well, Ruby knew she was an exception but she still worried about other people. And their respective jaws. But now, however, Yang barely looked upset after talking about their problem. Yes, she was biting her lip, a sign that she was deep in thought, but she wasn't doing it in a way that looked like she was angry. In fact, Ruby would swear that this was the calmest she had seen her sister in the past three days.

_Whoop-whoop, plus points for Humanity. _Ruby cheered in her head as she silently looked and raised her first up towards the sky. Or well, in this case, the roof of the Cab. _And they say kindness is an endangered species. Ha! __Take_ _that, Cynics! _Right after, Ruby looked back to Yang with the full intent of talking with her some more. However, she stopped short when she noticed something off.

_Huh? __Is Yang...is she blush-_

"And we're here!" Dopinder announced with enthusiasm as the Cab slowed to a stop in front of a huge building that looked to be mostly made out of bricks.

This same building also had a huge signboard that read; "Stark's, you think it's good enough? We'll make it better!".

"Stark's weapons shop." Dopinder continued with a smile. "I hope you two enjoyed the ride."

"Oh did we, ever," Ruby said happily before opening the door on her side, the side that was facing the Stark's building, and quickly hopped off the Cab. And as soon as her boots touched the pavement floor of the sidewalk, she stared up at the three-story building before looking away and walking up to the front seat of the Cab. "Hey, Mr. Dopinder?" She addressed the man that had been driven solely by the goodness of his own heart to help them out. "Thank you so much for the talk, you have no idea how much this has helped us." The young Rose thanked him with a short bow.

"Oh shucks," He waved off with a small laugh as Yang made her way out of the Cab on the other side. ", it was no problem, Miss."

"Hey Rubes," Yang called for her little sister's attention as she stood in front of the driver's side window. And when her little sister looked to her, Yang nodded towards the building. "You go on ahead inside, I'm just gonna pay for our ride first then I'll catch up to you, all right?"

"Well, okay." The young Rose agreed pretty easily with a nod and a smile. "Again, thank you, Mr. Dopinder, for everything." She gave him one last short bow before activating her Semblance and speeding past the building's double doors and disappearing inside. Leaving only a trail of red rose petals in her wake.

"Oh wow, " Dopinder remarked, astonished. ", neat Semblance."

"Hmm." Yang hummed in agreement as she grabbed her wallet from her back pocket. "So, how much do we owe you?" She asked, opening her wallet and grabbing a card.

"Oh, just about..." Dopinder reached out to the taximeter and turned it towards her so she could see. "...957 lien."

He was about to offer her to cut that down to at least 500. For a number of reasons. But mostly because, A. he got to have a blast in talking with them and B. he wanted them to know that his help was free of charge. It was, for him, the humane thing to do. But alas, before he could even open his mouth, Yang held out a shiny card that had him stopping and zeroing in on it almost immediately.

It was a Silver Card. A kind of credit card that didn't get its name just by the all too obvious material it was made of. No, this was a kind card that only the Elite of society had in their pockets. But the surprise quickly turned into understanding when Dopinder remembered what kind of work Yang's "Husband" had.

"Here, " Yang held the silvery card in front of Dopinder to take. ", use my card and punch in the tally. And..." She glanced towards the building her little sister had disappeared into before letting out a soft sigh. "...and punch in a few extra thousand if you want. As a tip."

Dopinder was halfway from grabbing the silver card when that last part fully registered in his mind. "O-oh no, " He shook his head at her, stammering a bit as he tried to decline her offer. ", I-I can't really do that, Ma'am. I mean...d-don't you think that.." He swallowed. "..don't you think that you're giving away too much money?" He finished with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Hey come on now, " For the shortest of seconds, the busty blonde smiled down on Dopinder. ", where'd that sage-like bravado of yours run off to?" She finished with a chuckle.

This got Dopinder to chuckle too as he rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. "I mean, it's just..." He gestured to the silver card Yang was still holding out to him. "...don't you think its a little too much?"

"Well..." Yang thought about it as she gently tapped the card on the opened Cab window with a hand of her hip. "...no, actually. It's not." She finally answered out after a few seconds. "You know, my little sister was right, " She followed up with a mirthless chuckle. ", you have no idea how much your help meant. And.." She shrugged, one hand still on her hip in and the other holding out the card. "...this is the least I can do to repay you for it."

He was about to argue about it some more, to tell her that helping others out was free of charge. The kind of talk that would have the young Rose beaming if she were here to hear it. Which is why Yang moved to intercept it before he could a word out.

"And before you start saying stuff like how kindness is free, I really appreciate the sentiment, but that's not really gonna help you with the Bills," Yang explained. And with this seemingly adult insight and his admittedly lack of knowledge on women, it further solidified Dopinder's idea that Yang was this experienced Mother. "And besides, " She inched the silver card in her hand closer to Dopinder. ", it's not like I go around doing charity work all the time. This is a one-time thing. So I wouldn't pass this up if I were you."

Dopinder hummed with pursed lips as he thought on it. He really wanted to stand by his moral code, but Yang was right. Cynical as it may sound, money made the world go round. Among other things. So with a sigh and a nod, he took the silver card and inserted it in the card reader built into his taximeter.

"You sure about this Ma'am?" Dopinder asked as his fingers hovered just above the number keypads of the taximeter. It had beeped its confirmation that it had successfully read the card and all that was missing now was for him to type in the amount. "I mean, can I really..." He let the sentence hang in the air as he nodded to the taximeter.

"Yeah sure, just don't go too high up. I'd say 5000 lien is your max." The blonde freely advised with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, uh..okay then." With a shrug, he punched in his desired amount. He didn't want to actually have it reach all the way up to 5,000, that was just asking for too much. No matter how much Yang was saying it was okay. "3, 957 lien." He spoke out loud as he pressed the process button before looking back to Yang. "Is that okay with you, Ma'am?"

"Yeah." The blonde confirmed with a nod. "But you know, you could've added some more. " As Dopinder ejected the card from the reader after it had beeped in confirmation, Yang continued.

"Yeah, you did." Dopinder easily agreed with a nod to the blonde as he handed her back the silver card. "But to ask for much in return for wisdom defeats the purpose of giving it in the first place."

"Oh wow, " Placing back the card in her wallet and then sliding that too in her back pocket, Yang scoffed playfully at the man. ", where'd you get that from? A fortune cookie or something?" She asked with a grin.

"Nah, " He waved off. ", the back of a Pumpkin Pete's cereal box." He finished with a chuckle as he turned the ignition.

The busty blonde chuckled too. This by no means made them instant pals or anything. She just found it nice to discover people like Dopinder out there in the world. The kind of people that are willing to help and stammer their heart out when paid for it.

"Thanks again, Dopinder. For this." Yang thanked the man one last time before he'd leave.

"Don't mention it, Ma'am." He waved off with a smile as he moved to step on the gas pedal. "I know this may sound a little...uncanny, but I hope Lady Destiny leads our paths to cross once again in the future. I'd be thrilled to meet the man of the house himself."

"Hm, yeah." Stepping back from the window, Yang answered back with a grin. "I actually think he'd like to meet you too." Well, he'd question you and glare you down for a bit before he'd fully trust you, the blonde didn't say.

"Well, " He a gave her a crisp salute. ", I'm off." Right after saying that, he fully stepped on the gas pedal and sped away into the distance.

"Hmm. Pretty nice enough guy." The blonde remarked as the Cab disappeared from her view. "He got a ton of stuff all wrong, " She turned towards the building and stepped onto the sidewalk as she grabbed her scroll from her other back pocket. ", but fuck it. That really was a good talk."

And getting Yang to admit that wasn't a minor feat by any means. Ruby, along with so many others, has tried to calm her down in the past three days and they all more or less irritated her more. And yet, one talk from a total stranger, and she's the calmest she's ever been. Not completely, of course. She and Gerald had more to say to each other. But she would admit that she felt a lot better now. Was it because three days have passed already and she wasn't as angry anymore? Was it that little story Dopinder had told that softened her? Or was their little Driver friend really that good? Maybe. But the busty blonde didn't mind the results either way.

"Proof of his love, huh?" Yang recounted in a soft whisper the words Dopinder had said as she looked up at the clear blue sky. "Damn romance crap." She cursed as she quickly rubbed her face to lessen the reddening of her cheeks. Once her face had cooled down enough for the red to diminish, she let out a breath before dialing a number on her scroll.

She waited for a few seconds for the call to connect. And on the sixth ring, her scroll beeped.

_"Yang! Gurl, where are you?" _A feminine voice emanated from the scroll's speakers. _"The movie's about to start, come on!"_

"Hey, girl," Yang answered back and unconsciously cocker her hip. "I know this is super late notice but there's been a change of plans."

_"Aw, what? Why what happened?" _The girl on the other side asked.

"Family stuff. And..." She looked towards the doors leading inside the Stark's building. "...some sister bonding time. And you know me, I can't really miss either of those. Sorry, girl." The blonde continued, rubbing her neck with a chuckle.

_"Ahhhhh, gotcha-gotcha." _The girl on the other end of the line acknowledged. _"So you and Gerald finally patched things up again?"_

"Well..." Yang shook her open palm in a "so-so" manner as she started slowly walking towards the Stark's doorway. "...not exactly, yet. But yeah, that's kinda why I'm calling to say I can't make it. Starting things up again, you know?"

_"Hm-hm. Honestly, girl, it's about damn time you finally got this sorted out with your bro. This was like..the longest you've ever been mad at him. I and the gang were kinda starting to feel worried for little Ruby."_

"What?" With a raised brow, Yang stopped just a few steps short from the doorway. "Worried for Ruby? Why?"

_"Oh Yang-gurl, you know why. You and him are like her Mommy and Daddy, and you two be out there giving each other the silent treatment. That's no good for your baby, you know. Think about how she'd feel." _Though Yang couldn't see it, she had a good feeling the girl on the other end of the line was moving her head in that side to side motion whenever she disapproved of something.

Yang gripped the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Yeah-yeah, I get it. I'm not oblivious, you know." And with a shake of her head and another sigh, she walked forward to place her hand on one of the door handles. "That's just one of the things I'm gonna talk about with him later. So don't you worry about that."

_"Hm-hm._ _Well you better, Yang-gurl."_ On the other end of the call, a voice that Yang also knew called out for the girl._ "Yeah-yeah! I'll be there! Just a sec!" _The girl shouted back, most likely to the person who had called for her. _"Well, movie's starting now, gurl. Call me later when you've got it all sorted out with Gerald. See ya."_

"Yeah. See yah." And with that, the call ended with the girl on the other end clicking her scroll off.

Yang then slid the scroll back into her back pocket and paused for a bit and doing nothing other than listening to the sounds of her own breathing as she stared at the non-see through-glass of the double doors. And after sifting through the whirlwind of thoughts in her head for almost an entire minute and a half, Yang placed her other hand on the second door handle and pushed both doors open before walking inside**.**

* * *

**Apologies for the Chapter split. Techincial issues is all I have to say.**

**Now, onward. **


	6. Chapter 1 Page 4

**Legend (For new Characters):**

**Dopinder (Karan Soni): This was the cab driver from the last chapter(s) that had given Yang and Ruby a talk. He's a fictional character from the Deadpool movies. The Dopinder in my story is essentially the same as that in the movies but has a few differences in character. He won't be appearing again for a bit, but more on him will be revealed in time.**

**Annie January [Campbell] a.k.a "Starlight" (Erin Moriarty): This is another fictional character from the Prime Original Series, "The Boys".** **And she is Hughie's wife in this AU of RWBY.**

**Cherie (Jordana Lajoie): From the same Prime Orginal series. In the show, she WAS Frenchie's significant other. But in my story, they're still a thing.**

**Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara): Still from the show "The Boys". To avoid too much character spoiling, I'll just say she's also Frenchie's significant other**.

**And also, supposedly Kimiko here in my story would've talked but in a Japanese (Mistral) language. But after wasting an entire day with trying to decipher words that made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever, I said; "Nah, we'll go Neo mode and have her sign and stuff". And thus, this Kimiko was made.**

**That is all for now, Continue.**

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**Book 1: Silver and Steel**

**Chapter 1: Big Brother**

**Page #4/**

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Approximately a mile and half eastward from the Tavern, we find Gerald of Patch, along with the four elites of the VSF, entering a cave that led deeper inside one of the enormous mountains of Patch. And not long after they had crossed the mouth of the gaping cave, the young Branwen saw a massive camouflage colored Bull-Head stationed inside. But it didn't look like any Bull-Head he had ever seen before. It looked bulkier but at the same time aerodynamically leaner than the norm. And he also couldn't help but notice it's two turbine engines looked more... advanced. Yes, that was the only word the young man could use to perfectly describe it. And the Bull-Head as a whole. It looked like the love child of a standard Valian Bull-Head and an Atlas one.

"Like what yew see, kid?" Gerald heard the heavily accented voice of William Butcher sound off from beside him. He glanced to his left to see the bearded man himself walk up next to him. "She's da first ov 'er kind, " William explained as he nodded towards the advanced Military-esque flying ship. ", a new generashun ov Military tech if yew will. The exact details are classified, but between you and me?" The black trenchcoat-wearing man smiled a vicious smile at the young Branwen. "This 'ere'll give those Atlas cunts a run for their money."

"Ahs eef, Butcher." Frenchie scoffed as he and Mother's Milk passed by them.

"Oh, yee ov so little faith." Barely sounding nowhere near insulted with the smaller man's remark, Butcher replied with a short mirthless laugh. And the young Branwen couldn't be sure of it himself but it sounded like that was a quote from the 16 Faiths.

"Annie!" Hughie Campbell, who had walked ahead all of them and was the first to near the Bull-Head's sealed elevated doorway, called out a name. A woman's name, apparently. "Ladies! We're back!"

"You know you don't really need to shout "we're back" every time we come back, Hughie. It's highly unprofessional." Gerald heard the Vacuan ethnic man, Mother's Milk, remark as he and Frenchie followed close behind Hughie.

"Annie?" Gerald turned to Butcher with a questioning look.

The bearded man answered with an enigmatic smile as he slapped Gerald's bicep before walking ahead of him. "Hum on then, " He said, gesturing for Gerald to follow. ", meet da rest ov me team."

With a soft grunt, the young Branwen did just that and followed close behind Butcher. And soon as he took those few first steps forward, the Bull-Head's doorway opened up and a metal ramp protruded and lowered to allow access inside. And there, at the threshold of the Bull-Head's doorway, stood a woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and was wearing a military-grade bulletproof vest over her standard camouflage colored Valian Military Uniform.

"Took you guys long enough." The blonde said as she walked down the ramp and moved to intercept Hughie.

"Hey." The man himself replied simply as he and the woman met at the foot of the ramp.

And in an act that had Gerald raising a brow, the blonde-haired woman and the man Hughie locked lips for the briefest of moments as Frenchie and Mother's Milk passed them and walked up the ramp. It was a chastised kiss, one that barely lasted even a second, but it was enough for Gerald to get a read on them and the possible "thing" they had.

_Lovers. Maybe more. _The young Branwen thought. And he saw his definite answer come in the form of the identical rings the two of them were wearing. _Oh, definitely more._

"All right yew two, break i' up. Save da smoochin' fer after we're done wiv da mission." Butcher said to the Hughie and the woman before turning towards Gerald. "Kid, meet aaahr Annie January, " He continued, gesturing the woman. ", Annie, meet Gerald ov Patch." He said, gesturing this time towards the young Branwen.

"Nice to meet you." The blonde-haired woman, now known as Annie January, greeted the black leather armored young man with a smile and nod.

"Likewise, ma'am," Gerald replied simply with a nod and a small smile of his own.

"All right!" With a loud clap of his hands, Butcher walked up the ramp. "Yew can get yaaahrselves acquaine'd some mawer on board. We're takin' off." He called back to them as he neared the threshold. "We've got a tight schedule ter keep, so chop-chop." He gestured for them to get a move on before fully disappearing inside.

And not long after, the Bull-Head's turbine engines came to life and quickly filled the gaping cave they were in with noise. And with him still standing on the cave's rocky ground, Gerald could feel how the turbines starting up shook their surroundings.

_Those must be some pretty powerful engines._ Gerald thought.

"Well, let's go," Annie said as she grabbed Hughie's hand and led him up the ramp. "You too sir, " She continued without looking back to Gerald. ", you don't wanna be left behind now."

And when the two of them crossed the threshold, the Bull-Head's turbines roared louder and shook the cave even more.

With another one of his signature grunt- like "hmm", the young Branwen wasted no time in walking up the ramp. And he soon discovered what Butcher had meant when he said they were on a tight schedule. For as soon as Gerald stepped through the threshold, the lowered metal ramp quickly retracted itself and not long after the doorway sealed shut.

"Hold on tight ter yaaahr undies!" Butcher shouted back to them from the cockpit before pressing a number of buttons and flipping a few switches on the control panel.

"W-wait Butcher, I still-"

But before Hughie could finish his sentence and successfully buckle himself, Butcher slid down a lever that instantly made the Bull-Head's turbine engines increase in power. This had the Bull-Head lifting quickly off the ground and, with another lever pull that had the turbine engines rotating a few degrees so that it's exhaust-ways were facing back. Butcher then pushed the control stick forward and a sonic boom resonated from the turbine engines as the Bull-Head blasted off from the confines of the cave and out into the open world. Thankfully, despite the suddenness of it all, Annie was able to put her arm in front of Hughie to keep him from jolting out of his seat.

Then, without so much as a word of warning, Butcher abruptly pulled the control stick. This caused the Bull-Head to take a sharp change of direction upward and had the inhabitants jolting once again in their seats. Or well, ALMOST everyone. This state of ascent lasted for a total of 57 seconds, long enough for the aircraft to reach 30,000 feet off the ground, before Butcher finally moved the control stick to a neutral shift. And with another round of button pressing and switch flicking on the control panel, the bearded man acting as the pilot successfully made their aircraft fly straight. It was still going at high speeds, but at the very least it was moving in a straight line now.

"Ah, " Butcher said with a breath as he typed in the coordinates into the Bull-Head's built-in autopilot system. ", anuvver successful liftoff, eh?" Once the aircraft's computer system had confirmed the coordinates, Butcher swiveled his pilot seat to face the other inhabitants of the Bull-Head.

"Really, Butcher?" Annie exasperatedly demanded the black trench coat wearing man as she helped Hughie fully fasten his seat belts. "You almost threw Hughie off. Again!"

"Eh, bullocks," Butcher replied coolly with a shrug of his shoulders. ", he'll survive. He tends ter do daht a lot wiv yew around." He continued, making Annie grumble under her breath and Hughie stare at Butcher with a "really?" look on his face.

"Well-well, " Quickly moving on, Butcher looked to Gerald and remarked with an arched brow. ", yew look like yaaahr 'oldin' pret'y well enough." He continued as he gave the young Branwen an up-down look before grinning. "Enjoyed yaaahr first lift-off on Vale's best an' finest?"

"A little warning would've been nice." Gerald replied, hands on his side and still standing with legs apart near the sealed doorway. Almost as if he hadn't budged a single inch from that same spot.

"A wahrneeng?" Frenchie scoffed with a grin, making Gerald look to him and see that he was sitting in between two women the young Branwen had seen on his way inside. "My friend, you baherly even fleenched when we took off. Ahnd now, you're litterahlly stahndeeng perfectly straight ahs were moving at 2,000 miles per hour." Another scoff from Frenchie. "I'm pretty sure you dahnt really need wahrneengs, wouldn't you ahgree?"

_Just because I can react in time doesn't mean I prefer to not have a heads up in advance. _Gerald thought, letting out a grunt as he crossed his arms. Focusing all the while in making sure his lower body muscles and his center of gravity were working in tandem with the aircraft's velocity and minuscule changes of vertigo to ensure he wouldn't end up being flung back. _Guess this Butcher guy's like one of THOSE people. _And by "those" people, he meant the kind of people that purposely made it difficult for the young Branwen to work with them. And unfortunately, this happened more often than not.

"Huh, looks like hees files were true," One of the women sitting next to Frenchie spoke up with an accent noticeably similar to that of Frenchie's. ", he really does sound like he's growleeng when he grunts."

"I know right?!" Frenchie gleefully exclaimed as he looked to the woman who had spoken.

This same woman had fair skin and long smooth black hair that hung freely to the side and appeared to be wearing the same set of clothing as Annie January, camouflage Military attire and bulletproof vest and all. But her eyes are what stood out to Gerald the most. Her bright white irises completely contrasted with her dark pupils and giving a whole new meaning to aesthetically making your eyes pop.

_"This is him? The man they call the bloody monster?"_ The other woman sitting on Frenchie's other side moved her hands around in the familiar ways of sign language as she looked him up and down. _"He doesn't look like a monster."_

From her looks alone, Gerald knew that this woman who had just signed was of Mistralian decent. She had the typical look most Mistralian women have. Slanted eyes, dark neck length hair, and fair skin. It also helped that she was visibly the shortest out of everyone here. She too was wearing the exact same uniform the other two women on board were wearing.

"Kid you've met Hughie's girl, now meet Frenchie's two." Butcher said as he gestured towards Frenchie and his so-called girls. "Go ahead Frenchie, introduce aaahr spice girls ter da legend."

"Ahll right." He said before putting an arm over the shoulders of the woman with the same accent as him. "First off, zise here ees Cherie. She's our best eenfeeltrahtahr and she's my ma Cherie sahmbre. Pun cahmpletely entended.

"Nice to offeecially meet you, Gerahld of Pahtch." The woman, Cherie, said with a small smile and nod to the young Branwen. "I look fahrwahrd to wahrkeeng weeth you."

"Likewise ma'am," Gerald answered back with a short nod.

"And ziss, " Frenchie then put his other arm over the shoulders of the Mistral woman beside him. ", is Kimiko. Now, dahn't be fooled by hair leettleness, " Frenchie followed up with a nod to the woman now known as Kimiko. ", she's ze fiercest one out of ahll of us here."

_"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you." _Kimiko signed with a nod to the young Branwen before looking to Frenchie. _"Hey!" _She signed with one hand as she elbowed Frenchie to get his attention. And when he gave it, she gave him a look. _"Translate for me." _She signed. And he was quick enough on the uptake.

"Oh, uh...she said-"

_"A pleasure to meet you too, ma'am." _Gerald signed, stopping Frenchie and quickly gaining Kimiko's surprise and attention.

"Well, would yew look at that?" The bearded man that was Butcher, spoke up with an arched brow. "He even knows 'ow ter' hand sign." He finished, making Butcher and the others look to him as he pressed a few buttons on the pilot chair's armrest.

"But that's abaaaht enuff wiv da introducshuns." The black trench coat wearing man continued as metal shutters quickly began covering the Bull-Head's front windshields. "Now, we-and by extension you-have to get on wiv da mission." At this, the metal shutters had fully covered the windshields, leaving only the lights built-in within the Bull-Head as their light source. "So, listen up."

A beam of bright blue light shot out from the center of the Bull-Head's ceiling like a projector. And seconds later, a large table-sized holographic 3Dmodel of Remnant formed at where the blue light was shining.

_Three-dimensional holographic projection?_ Gerald thought to himself, a little surprised, as he shifted his stance so that he was fully facing the floating holographic map of their world. _And here I thought only Atlas had that level of advanced tech. Guess we're closing the gap with them more and more these days_.

"Now 'ere's da deal." The bearded man sitting on the pilot seat started off. "For da past few months, Dust producshun in da fouhr Kingdoms 'as been laaahrin to an all-time low. So much so, that Mr. Bushy-White-Mustache up there in Atlas decided ter up da antie on Dust prices. And yew all 'ave dis ginger-twat ter thank." He pressed a few buttons on his armrest and a holographic projection of a smiling man spreading his arms wide like a showman appeared atop the map of their world. A man that everyone in the Bull-Head recognized right away.

"Yeah, that's right. Roman Torchwick. Number one most wan'ed criminal in all ov Remnant an' all-around pain in da ass." Butcher continued with a grimace that spoke of how he really felt about the fancy wearing criminal. "He's been goin' round da four kingdoms stealin' enough Dust to power an entire city and at best leaving orange-level collateral damage behind. What's mawer, 'e's been doin' all ov dis in cahoots with our rodent friends the White Fang." He clicked a button on the armrest and a holographic image of the White Fang symbol materialized next to the hologram of Torchwick. "Now, all ov dis 'as already been disclosed ter the general public. But what the common folks don't know, is that they've been swipin' mawer van just Dust."

Another series of button pressing by Butcher and the images of Roman and the White Fang insignia disappeared. And replacing them, were numerous still frame images of what appeared to be large mechanical parts and machinery being taken and embargoed by White Fang members. And noticeably in some of the images, Torchwick could be seen ordering around some suited individuals and in some, he could be seen looking on in observance at the White Fang members and the suited people as they did the heavy lifting.

_Wait, are those..._ Gerald zeroed in on each of the images, face stoic and not betraying anything. They looked so familiar to him. The large metal pieces instantly reminding him of a certain rail vehicle. _...are those train parts?_

"They've also been stealin' various train parts all over da world." Butcher said, inadvertently proving the young Branwen's intuition to be true. "And our intelligence says that with the materials Roman and company 'ave got, they can build an entire train if they 'aven't already. It'll be ugly lookin' as all 'ell, but it'll be operashunal. Or so they say." He shrugged as he once again pressed a series of buttons on the armrest. "Regardless, " He continued, the still frame images disappearing before the holographic map zoomed in on the Sanus continent. ", i' doesn't matter much as to WHAT they plan ter do wiv it, what really matters is WHERE they plan ter do it.

The hologram of Sanus magnified and focused on the continent's southeast corners. It was a place that was familiar to most and known by nearly all. The very first patch of land that Humanity had reclaimed but lost it once more not long after. The place that would forever serve as a morbid reminder for all of Remnant's history.

"And that's 'ere, Mountain Glenn." Butcher nodded at the projected holographic image of the once proud and prospering City. "Our saaahrces 'ave told us tha' they've been takin' all their stolen Dust an' train parts 'ere via da old an' once believed ter be unusable underground tunnel systems." He leaned back on his seat with arms spread wide and a smile that looked nowhere near friendly. "And as da VSF's best and finest, minus yew kid, " He added with a finger point to the young Branwen. But said young Branwen was too busy thinking about a major problem that was gradually becoming apparent more and more. ", it's aaahr job ter fly ova there and give those fuckers a good ol' spankin' in da arse."

"Now just hold on a minute." Gerald hurriedly asked up, drawing in everyone's attention. There was a sense of urgency in his naturally gravelly voice like he was fearing for something. Or quite possibly, for SOMEONE. "We're going to Mountain Glenn? Seriously?"

"No, " Butcher flippantly replied without so much as a pause. ", we're going to Mountain Glenn, IMMEDIATELY." And to further drive in his point, or maybe because he just wanted to sass Gerald even more than he already had, Butcher pointed towards the hologram of the said Mountain city while giving Gerald the same look an adult would give to a naive child. "You know, that place right there. The place where shi' 'i' da fan an' millions ov people died, rin' any bells?"

"YOU said that our targets were holed up somewhere beyond the outer rims of Sanus." Gerald pointed an accusing finger at Butcher.

"Yeah, I did say that. And tell me, Mountain Glenn is fuckin' where?" Butcher replied with an annoyed look.

"Mountain Glenn is even further than that!" Gerald corrected with an irritated growl mixed in with his voice as he moved his pointed finger to the hologram of Mount Glenn.

"Fuckin' semantics." The bearded man waved off.

"Yeah, exactly. Semantics. VERY IMPORTANT semantics." Lowering his raised hand, the young Branwen couldn't help but grit his teeth in annoyance.

"Why are you getting worked up about this, though?" Hughie Campbell asked and made Gerald snap his attention towards the man. "I-I mean if you don't mind me asking of course." He quickly added when he saw Gerald's red irises lock onto him.

The young Branwen grunted before looking back to Butcher. "I can't afford to be gone for more than a few hours. I need to be back home before this afternoon. And mountain Glenn's ways away, give or take a few hours AT LEAST, and that's not even counting the time we'll lose fighting our targets." He finished as he felt around his black leather utility belt, seemingly in search of something.

"If yaaahr pissin' abaaaht da time, it'll take us roughly less van two 'aaahrs ter get there." Butcher explained before giving the young Branwen a questioning look. "Why? What's gotten yaaahr knickers in a twist all ov a sudden?"

"You gaht sahmtheeng eempahrtahnt to do bahck at Patch?" Frenchie asked out of curiosity. "Because, no offense to you my friend, " He raised both of his hands in a "stop" gesture. ", ziss right here ees pretty eempahrtahnt too. Mahre so, even."

"Yeah, you even said how you couldn't think of a more important thing than dealing with the White Fang back at the Tavern." Mother's Milk added right after Frenchie. "Where the hell did all that talk go?"

_Fuck. _Cursing in his head, Gerald continued to feel around his belt. _I really did say that, didn't I? Well damn shit, congratulations me, you just played yourself. _Mentally berating himself some more, the dark leather armor wearing young man grumbled as he moved on from feeling around his belt to his armor.

"You don't get it, I..." Thinking his next set of words through, Gerald stopped feeling around his armor for the moment and sighed as he let his arms fall to the side. "...I had a..kind of a falling out with someone, all right? Shit's been tough between me and her for the past few days and it's going to get even shittier when she comes home and realizes I'm not there."

He couldn't risk telling them the whole truth, of course. VSF elites or not, these people were still strangers to him. And cynical as it may be, he was taught by a dusty old crow that ALL strangers have the same chance of being an enemy as they do being a potential ally. And besides, this was something of a personal thing. And matters of the family, stay within the family.

"And does dis ...SHE... 'appen ter be any ov yaaahr sisters?"

Gerald, for the briefest of seconds, had a look of mild shock on his face as he fully registered what Butcher had said. But soon after that, he regained his composure and acted naturally and admitted to nothing. Better to let them draw their own conclusions than confirming them himself. _Damn. But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. They probably have all of Vale's intelligence agencies at their beck and call. _That didn't mean he was comfortable with the thought of Kingdom affairs looking him and his family up, though. _I'll definitely need to talk to Qrow about this when I get back._

"Let me take a guess, it's da older one ain't it?" Butcher considered Gerald's silence as his answer. "Ah, so i' is." The bearded man smiled with a scratch to his chin. "She's a pretty one, I'll say that much."

Gerald couldn't hold back the disgusted look that made itself apparent on his face. _By the Brothers' name. _The young man unconsciously called out to his faith when he recognized the look Butcher had when he gave his comment on Yang._ And once again, the beautiful light beckons another creep to come crawling out from the depths._

No matter how many times it occurred, is occurring, and will occur, Gerald will never come to terms with the thought of Yang being ogled at by men and, much to his shock, even women who're old as Qrow. To him, it just seemed so...off. He couldn't put what he felt into proper words, but he was sure of one thing. He did NOT like it. And he was even more certain that he'd never, ever, come to like it. Not on this life, or the countless next.

"But why da worry though?" Still having that smile that made the young Branwen's stomach turn, Butcher continued to ask. Oblivious to the inner thoughts Gerald had about him. "Does 'er flaaahr pot get all dried up when yew leave 'er alone awer something?" He asked before laughing at his own rather ill-mannered joke.

The young Branwen tried not to react to that. He really did. His late mother taught him that anger was something to be used, not something to be used by. That's why for most of his childhood, he spent it by helping Yang control her short temper and keep her from instigating unsanctioned fights rather than helping her finish them. And that's why it was near impossible to get a rise out of him. That's how deep the idea of "being the bigger person" was implanted into his psyche. People tried mocking him, calling him degrading names, challenging him to step up and such. Oh, he'd feel the anger boil up, rather quickly too, as it's only natural to feel anger. But his mother's words always stemmed the fury and helped calm him down.

But there were times that it did not. Times that a few unfortunate individuals, unfortunately, ended up saying one too many things that rubbed Gerald in the wrongest ways possible. And talking about his younger sisters in any way negatively was just one of those things.

"I'm sorry," Forcing a blank expression on his face, Gerald started walking closer towards the bearded man sitting on the pilot seat. It was at a slow pace and his steps were heavy. But the fact that he was walking in the first place with their aircraft moving at roughly 2.6 Mach speeds was nothing short of incredible. ", I think I'm starting to hear things, SIR."

Even without focusing their Auras to their eyes, the elites of the VSF could see Gerald's dark red Aura wafting from his body like steam coming off from an overheating engine. And not long after, the young Branwen was standing over Butcher and looking down on him. And Butcher, unfazed by the turn of events, looked back up at him in kind with a dull expression. One could say he looked bored, even. "I could've sworn I heard you say something about my little sister's privates. But it might just be my mind playing tricks on me. There's no way you'd actually do something as crass as making fun of my precious little sister's womanhood, RIGHT SIR?"

As Gerald's Aura increased in volume, the VSF elites felt a great weight weighing them down even more on their seats. It wasn't the same sensation as the pull of gravity. No, this was something else entirely. It was a sensation that they had already felt before but never to this extent.

_This is-_ Hughie, Annie, Mother's Milk, Frenchie, Cherie and Kimiko all came to the same conclusion at the same time.

_-the kid's Aura Pressure. _And of course, so did Butcher. He wasn't their leader and second in command of the VSF for nothing. _Bugger me it's got one 'ell ov a weight to it too. _He was already feeling pressed down on his seat but he didn't break eye contact with the young Branwen. In fact, he smiled back at the young man. _A monster wiv monstrous Aura. Now that's just a fuckin' life 'ack right there."_

"Yew ever 'eard ov a joke befawer, kid?" Butcher scoffed with an amused grin. "Hum on now, there's no need ter be so-"

Gerald cut the bearded man off by perching his left hand, palm up, on Butcher's right shoulder. And the weight it had was nothing Butcher could've ever expected a simple hand would have. _The fuck is tha' hand ov his made of? Anvils awer some shit? _He gripped the armrests of the pilot seat he was sitting on and used them as his means of bracing himself against the combined weight of Gerald's Aura Pressure and the heaviness the young man's hand had.

"If being a dick to others around you makes your's hard, then I won't kink shame your fetish." The young Branwen's voice was calm and even. His face relaxed. But the way Gerald was looking down on him reminded Butcher of the piercing red eyes of the Grimm. "But if you bad-mouth my family ever again, they'll never find what's rest of you. Sir."

"Yew know yer freatenin' a 'igh rankin' military officer, right?" Despite the weight straining his body, Butcher calmy asked back up at the young man.

"And you really think that fancy rank of yours gives you power, over me?" Gerald replied.

Now mark well, Gerald isn't the type to shove his boasts down people's throats. All achievements brought by his own power was never spoken highly by his own lips. The reputation he had built up was something that was done without his influence and it was especially something he didn't want to come to fruition. But right now, the rage coursing through him was clouding his judgment and thus he was unable to temper his words.

And these words that slipped from the young man's mouth made Butcher's blood boil.

There was an energy in the air now. A shift in the atmosphere. No longer was Gerald's Aura the predominating sensation. Now there was something else mixing in. It was another's Aura. It wasn't strong enough to be seen by the naked eye like Gerald's. But this rivaling Aura could still be felt by everyone all the same.

"Well-well, arent we ge'in' cocky?" Gripping his hands down hard on the armrests, Butcher glared up at the young Branwen. "Yew ought ter respect yaaahr superiors, kid. 'Ow's abaaaht I teach yew some manners, 'm?"

"Butcher!" Annie January, the only one in their team who wasn't interested in seeing their boss go toe to toe with a legend, called out for the bearded man's attention. "Get your shit together, old man! Swallow that pride of yours, apologize to the kid while you're at it, and FOCUS!"

A few tense seconds passed with Gerald and Butcher staring each other down with neither of them looking like they had no intention whatsoever of backing down. Their Aura's, one seen and the other not, mingling in the air. But on the 12th second of their little deadlock of wills, Butcher breathed out a sigh and grunted. "Fine." Straining his muscles and refusing to break eye contact from the younger man, Butcher shrugged off the heavy hand of Gerald from his right shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean ter offend." With an agitated look, Butcher weakly threw his hands up as he calmed his Aura. "There, yew 'appy now?" If there was ever an award for the most insincere apology ever made, Butcher's would've won it with next to little contest.

With the rage simmering down more and more as the seconds ticked by, Gerald's sense of rational reasoning came back. And with it, the worrying realization of how close he was to ruining the Hunt.

_Shit. I almost ended up fighting with my employer. _With his face offering only a twitch of annoyance at the prospect of ALMOST breaking a Hunting rule, Gerald grunted and stepped back from Butcher._ Not my fault, _Well, technically it kinda was. _, this prick's making it hard for me to like him. And with the way he keeps looking at me like that, he's just openly inviting me to duke it out. _Another twitch of his eye as he turned around and began walking back to his original spot near the Bull-Head's doorway.

Silently, Gerald passed by the rest of the members of Butcher's team. And through his peripheral vision, he could see that their eyes were set on him as he went. He didn't blame them. He'd stare at someone too if they walked up to their boss with the intent of violence. When the young man finally reached the spot near the sealed doorway, he decided that now it'd be better to sit down on one of the seats than having to stand for two more hours. And sit down he did. Choosing the closest seat to the sealed door, he plopped down on it with a soft grunt. And without even putting on his seat belts, the young Branwen simply crossed his arms and decided to stare at the Bull-Head's metal ceiling.

Gerald had decided that for the remainder of their flight, he was going to just keep looking off into space rather than look at Butcher and his team. That way, he'd have less of a chance of ending up doing and saying something that would damage not only his own reputation but the reputation of the Uni-Guild.

"Hmph." Scoffing, Butcher shook his head as he looked at the now seated form of Gerald Branwen. "As I was sayin' befawer bein' rudely interrupted, " He directed his gaze back towards the holographic image of Mountain Glenn. ", Torchwick's forces an' da White Fang along wiv all da goods they've stolen fer da past 'alf year are all 'ere in Mountain Glenn." The hologram map's point of focus moved to the east to show a flat valley brimming with large trees. "Our LZ'll be 'ere, 10 clicks east off from da ci'y ter avoid detecshun. We'll meet up wiv da rest ov da teams an' we'll go on foot from there. Understood?"

All the members of his team gave silent nods as their answers. They had already gone through multiple mission debriefings in the past. There was no need for words. Whatever info came to Butcher's attention, all of his team members were certain that it was concrete and hard proof to back it up. He was a foul-mouthed bastard with a "fuck you" persona, but he was their leader. And they had full trust in him. Even when at times he would be a huge pain in their asses.

"Oi! You got all that, brat?" Butcher called out to the young Branwen still staring up at the ceiling.

"Yeah-yeah," Gerald grunted out his reply, face tight and still refusing to look at anything but the ceiling. ", I got it."

"Good, then." The thickly bearded man that was Butcher dryly appraised. "Si' tight all ov you. We'll be there in an 'aaahr an' a bit." And with that said, he pressed a number of buttons on the armrest controls before turning his chair to face back front.

As the bright blue light projecting the holograms disappeared, the metal shutters that covered the front windshields of the Bull-Head began to open and allow the natural light of the sun to brighten the interior even more. At the same time, Butcher's team members tried to follow his orders of "sitting tight" by making themselves comfortable in their seats. Understandably, they were still wary of the young man sitting far behind them. So despite their efforts, they were as tense and ready for anything. To the point where they increased their Aura output out of instinct.

As for Gerald, he could sense their Aura's, Butcher's included, flaring up at the ready. Again, he didn't blame them for making such a decision. He did give them quite the scare just a minute ago. So instead of answering in kind by flaring up his own Aura, an act that he was sure would be deemed as hostile intent to Butcher and his team, he sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned back on his seat.

_Calming thoughts, Gerald. _He let out another sigh softly. _Calming thoughts. _And without so much as exerting the tiniest of efforts, his mind formed the image of his home back on the island of Patch.

He recalled the familiar sensation of his boots stepping on the sands of their front yard, the coldness of their front door's metal knob, the sound of Zwei's adorable barking as he walked inside their home's hall towards the living room, the smell of Ruby's fresh-baked cookies wafting all the way from the kitchen, and most of all, the sight of beautiful lilac eyes and bright yellow hair welcoming him back.

Unconsciously, the young man smiled with his eyes still closed as his facial features relaxed.

But through the calm that was quickly filling both his heart and mind, he felt something else. No, it was more of an afterthought. So small it was compared to the images his mind was projecting that he instantly put it aside. But still...

He felt like he had forgotten about something.

* * *

**ONWARD.**


	7. Chapter 1 Page 5

**Continue.**

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**BOOK 1: Silver and Steel**

**Chapter 1: Big Brother**

**Page #5**

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* * *

There are a lot of uncertainties in life that Gerald can never really make heads or tails of. He wasn't in any way a super-genius or a psychic or anything else of the sort. But right now though, he was sure of one thing.

_Yang is going to beat my ass for this._ For what seemed to be the hundredth time, Gerald of Patch once again tiredly thought to himself as he tried his all to maintain the poker face he had built up.

A few hours prior, when the young Branwen had glimpsed an image of his blonde younger sister Yang, he remembered that he needed to contact the aforementioned younger sister. Taking another Hunt just a few days after his last one would no doubt end up getting Yang pissed, especially considering the fact that said last Hunt got things heated between the two of them. But if he were able to contact her, he'd be able to tell her his reasons, his whereabouts, and of course, an array of promises of his return. Oh, he knew she'd still be mad at him for taking this Hunt in the first place, but at the very least he'd be able to quench her worry even just by a little bit if he were able to contact her and tell her all was well with him.

But it would seem that Lady Life had other plans. After checking and re-checking his entire person a good seven times for his Scroll and yielding no results, the young man was left with the headache-inducing realization that he had left his Scroll. And his frustration only grew all the more when he retraced his steps in his mind and found out that due to his haste, he had left his Scroll in their basement-armory when he was suiting up.

And thus for the remainder of the flight, Gerald spent it with his mind racing with numerous thoughts on numerous things. Things such as Yang, his plans to get this Hunt over with as quickly as possible, Yang again, his self proclaimed idiocy, preparing his apology speech, and of course, Yang. All the while, he did his best to keep a calm demeanor so that Butcher and his team were none the wiser to the dilemma he was facing.

"This looks close enuf." Butcher spoke up, breaking the long and sullen silence that had filled the Bull-Head for the past two hours as he pressed some buttons on the control panel. And with a downward pull of one of the many levers in the control panel, Gerald felt their aircraft decrease in speed. "At these speeds, it'll take us roughly thirty minutes ter reach da LZ." He continued, spinning his seat so that he was facing his team and Gerald. "So let's sui' up." In one practiced move, Butcher unbuckled himself from the pilot seat, stood up, and began walking seemingly towards the back portion of the Bull-Head.

Wordlessly, his team members followed his lead. They unbuckled themselves, almost simultaneously even, and stood up from their seats before following close behind Butcher.

"Oi, kid." Just as he was about to walk pass Gerald, Butcher stopped and pointed a finger at him before moving said pointing finger towards the cockpit. "Go on an' sit on da pilot seat an' keep watch fer any 'ostiles. Reckon you'll 'ave be'er use fer those eyes ov yaaahrs van starin' at dat damn ceiling." Putting his hand down, Butcher continued walking towards the back with his teammates in tow.

"But I don't know how to pilot this thing." The young Branwen tried to reason as he stood up from his seat. And with the Bull-Head no longer moving at 2000 miles per hour, he no longer had to tense his lower body muscles to keep himself planted on the floor.

"It's on Auto-Pilot, don't worry." Born Marvin, or Mother's Milk, answered as he and the others walked past him. "You don't really have to do anything but sit down and don't touch nothing."

"And don't crash us while yer at it." Butcher remarked as he got down on one knee and twisted a piece of metal on the Bull-Head's floor. "This thing costs mawer van what we paid yew wiv."

Quickly right after Butcher twisted the piece of metal on the floor, the floor near Gerald split open vertically to reveal a set of metal stairs leading downwards. Gerald was about to take a peek further down to see what lied beyond.

"Ah-ah-ah, not so fast, kid." The thickly bearded man raised a hand in a stopping gesture at Gerald, stopping the young man from stepping closer to the gaping entryway that led downward. "Down 'ere's classified ter none military personnel." He said in a tone that left no room for any argument on the matter.

Without saying anything else, he and his team descended and disappeared quickly from Gerald's sights. And with nothing else to do, the young Branwen let out a grunt of acceptance as he moved towards the Bull-Head's pilot seat. And once he was standing over it, he studied it for a good few seconds.

_Hm. Looks like I'll have to unfasten my scabbard._ He concluded.

And so, he unfastened his scabbard and held it with one hand before easing his bulky frame down on the seat. _Hm. Comfy._ Without putting the scabbard down, he turned his seat to face the front windshields of the Bull-Head. And only then did he place his scabbard down at his left side.

"Well, " With his eyes now focused on the view the Bull-Head's front windshields provided, Gerald was greeted with the sight of the seemingly endless ocean of blue that was the sky. The thick white clouds serving as it's landscapes. Their colors made even more pronounced by the rays of the mid-morning sunlight. ", this is a pretty damn good view." He finished with the makings of a grin taking form.

Gerald wasn't by any means new to views seen from a high vantage. Despite only at the age of twenty, soon to be twenty-one this coming month, he had climbed enough mountains and ridden on many an aircraft already to become accustomed to birds' eye views. But this right here was a first for the young Branwen. No mountain he had ever climbed was high enough to reach the heights they were on right now. In fact, he could scarcely even make out the earthly landscape of the continent. And no aircraft he had ever ridden on flew this high up above the clouds.

Truly it was something to behold. And Gerald tried his best to drink it all in with his eyes and commit it to memory. He figured that this would make a good story for the guilders back at the Tavern. And he wanted to capture this view with his Scroll and show it to Ruby. And Yang too, provided they talk things out first. But alas, he was once again reminded of the sobering fact that he had left it back on Patch. Roughly a few thousand miles away from where he was now.

And quickly as it had come, the grin on his face disappeared and he was once again thrust back to reality.

"It was nice while it lasted at least." And it was way too short-lived, the young Branwen felt as he sighed through his nose.

For the next few minutes, Gerald spent it in silence as he scanned the sky like a hawk. And this time, the beautiful view wasn't the focus of his long and calculating gazes. No, this time he was looking out for some things that were anything but beautiful but no less needed his attention. For a while, he saw nothing but endless blue and white that infinitely spanned across and beyond the horizon...

_Hm. Looks like all's well-_

...until his peripheral vision caught sight of something to the west. This immediately cut his internal musings short as he quickly turned his full attention to the western direction. Three, four, five seconds passed with him seeing nothing out of the ordinary. But he kept his gaze locked on there some more. He could've sworn he saw movement. It was far, very far, but it was there. He was sure of it. And true enough, he saw it again reappear from beneath the clouds before it took a dive and disappeared again not long after.

But those few short seconds was all it took for Gerald to get a read on WHAT exactly it was that he just saw. Doing the math as best he could in his mind, there was two, maybe even three or more thousand yards between the Bull-Head and the spot in the distance where he saw the thing disappear. And even that far off it had looked big. The kind of big that made human-sized beings nervous and afraid. And its unmistakable black coloring contrasted with the bright colors of its surroundings.

"Well, it was bound to happen anyway so, " The young Branwen shrugged with a sigh of resignation. ", fuck it."

As if life had wanted to provoke him some more, the large black thing resurfaced from the sea of clouds. This time to the east of their Bull-Head and Gerald couldn't help but notice it had gotten closer than before. It's large wings already visibly flapping in the far distance. Either the black creature was coming closer to them or they were to it mattered little to the young Branwen. He already knew they were bound to meet all the same. After all...

_A Nevermore never backs down from hunting its prey once it's begun circling, remember that kiddo._ The familiar voice of an old crow rang in his head.

_Oh, I remember alright._ With that mental remark to himself, Gerald grabbed his mecha-scabbard and got up from his seat.

"Butcher!" He barked out the name as he walked towards the sealed doorway. And when he was crossing past the opened pathway on the floor, he barked out again without stopping in his stride. "Hey, Butcher!"

He was well aware of the tension he had caused with these people due to his outburst earlier and had already sworn both to his faith and his parent's name that he'd apologize wholly for it at a later time. But right now, with the threat of a Grimm attack literally on the horizon, he needed to focus on that and put everything else aside for now.

"What!?" He heard the voice of the man he had just called shout back from somewhere inside the lower section of their Bull-Head, clearly irritated. "Did yew really screw up somethin' as easy as sittin' on a gods damned chair?"

"You and your team better get up here now before that Nevermore swoops at us and dice this ship to mince metal." Undeterred and calm, Gerald answered back as he held up his scabbard and pulled a metal switch built-in on its side. "And I'm not so sure about you, but I'm not interested in finding out if I'll survive a fall from this high up in the atmosphere." As one side of his mecha-scabbard opened up to release one of his two long swords from their confinement, he heard collective curses from the people down below followed by the sounds of hurried footsteps.

And soon enough, Butcher and his team came running back up. All of them were now wearing the camo-colored uniform of the Vale Military and had the same bulletproof vest as Annie January and the other women had before. But that wasn't all though. Now they were also wearing armoring that covered their forearms, elbows, biceps, shoulders, thighs, knees and shins that looked to be made out of some kind of plastic material that blended well with their uniforms.

"Yew sure yer not just seein' things, kid?" Without sparing him so much as a glance, Butcher "addressed" him as he sauntered towards the pilot seat before quickly plopping down on it.

All the while, the members of his team sat back down to their respective seats and quickly buckled themselves down. And this time, the man Hughie no longer experienced any further difficulties with his seat belts. The looks on their faces were guarded in a way that made them look like they were calm, and he would've believed those masks they were putting on if he hadn't noticed the slight dilation of their pupils and the thin sheen of sweat on their foreheads.

"No." Coolly and simply the young Branwen answered as he grabbed hold onto the freed longsword's grip before pulling it out with a lightning-fast flourish. The blade, made out of a strong Mistralian Silver, glowed so bright it seemed to be made out of pure light energy. "And if you don't believe me, then..." He looked up in thought for a moment. "...wait a few more seconds. Thirty or forty give or take and you'll have your answer."

If Butcher was irritated by that simple reply his face didn't show it. But he did click his tongue with a shake of his head as he strapped himself to his seat before making quick work on the control panel.

As the thickly bearded leader busied himself in the cockpit, Gerald, with his sword still in hand, flipped the mechanical switch of his scabbard and it's opened section closed once more. Once it had retained its original form, the young Branwen placed it on a seat and, in an act that had the VSF elites quirking their eyebrows, buckled it down with the seat belts.

"Things are bound to get shaky soon," The young man answered their unspoken questions as he stepped away from the now buckled down scabbard of his before stepping briskly back to face the sealed doorway. ", and I'd rather not have it flying off the ship." He finished, brandishing his silver sword as he locked his dagger and Beluga handgun in their holsters.

"Hey, uh...Gerald," Hughie Campbell called to him, a minuscule droplet of sweat running down the side of his temple.", did you..did you really see a Grimm headed towards us? What if you-Oh I don't know-were just really seeing things?" He let out a chuckle. A nervous and faltering chuckle.

If Gerald were any less of a man, he would've accused Hughie of being craven. But luckily, he was not. And he knew well enough the fear the Grimm brought to the hearts of man. It's not like he didn't almost shit himself when he first fought against the monsters of darkness.

"Sorry, but no." The young Branwen could only offer him an apologetic smile as he answered. "Just..." He shrugged. "...just do your best to hold on tight to your seats." He paused, a thoughtful look etched in his face all but for a moment. "And pray, if you like." He added shortly after.

As soon as he answered that, the man Hughie gripped his seat belts like they were the last things he was going to hold in this world. His wife, Annie January, placed a firm hand on his shoulder both as an act of comforting him and making sure that he wouldn't jerk around in his seat when things start to get wild. She also whispered something Hughie, and he whispered back in kind with a smile on his face. It was slightly faltering due to the surmounting fear he was feeling but Gerald felt that the effort he was putting behind it was genuine enough.

_I wish I could say something to help them, but there isn't time. _If his internal clock and the rough guesstimate he had given Butcher earlier were anywhere near accurate, then it was only a matter of a few seconds now before it would show itself. _Besides,_ Lowering his center of gravity in preparation for the inevitable action coming up, Gerald mused. _, actions speak louder than words. _

"FUCK!" With a curse loud enough to match the ear-piercing screech that resonated all throughout the sky, Butcher yanked the control stick to the left, causing the Bull-Head to swerve to that same direction and narrowingly dodge the gigantic avian Grimm that had swiftly leaped up from clouds beneath.

It let out another screech as it maneuvered its gigantic body to face towards the quickly fleeing Bull-Head and, with a powerful stroke of its large black wings, it shot towards the Bull-Head and cleared the distance between them in a second.

"Damn, that is one fast bird!" Butcher increased the Bull-Head's flight speed and the distance between them and the gigantic avian Grimm grew once more. At the same time, he pressed a button and a holo-screen popped up to his left. It was big enough for everyone, even Gerald, to see. And in this holo-screen, showed a live feed of the Nevermore pursuing close behind them. "And dam is it ugly." He added with a grimace.

"Butchair, ahcteevahte weapahns systems ahnd fry zat sing eento a blahck poulet!" Frenchie barked out, gripping his seat with one hand and his seat belts with the other as he stared at the holo-screen showing the Nevermore.

"Yeah-yeah, no need ter tell me twice, Frenchie. Just si' yaaahr ass tight an' shush." Their thickly bearded leader answered, irritated, as he moved to do begin the arming sequence of their aircraft.

"No, wait!" Gerald barked out, stopping Butcher from pressing any more buttons. "No guns!"

"No guns!?" Mother's Milk parroted, voice thick with extreme levels of exasperation. "Kid, are you fucking trippin' right now!?"

The Nevermore outside let out another loud screech that wasn't so dissimilar to that of a thousand wailing souls and flapped its wings twice, thrice, four times, until the very tip of its beak was hovering atop the tail of the Bull-Head. And with another screech, it reared its gigantic sharp beak up as high as its neck would allow it.

Thanks to the built-in camera in the tail of the Bull-Head, Butcher was able to see and quickly realize what their giant avian friend was going to do.

"Oh no, yew fuckin' don't!" Cursing, Butcher cranked up the Bull-Head's speed, even more, the Nevermore's gigantic beak hitting nothing but air as a result. It let out another screech of frustration at the quickly distancing aircraft before flapping its wings to try and catch up.

"Butcher, fly upwards in a straight line!" Gerald ordered, his voice barely loud enough to pierce through the sounds of their turbine engines roaring in tandem with the Nevermore's screeching. "And rotate this aircraft by 90 degrees to the left and open this door while you're at it!"

"Why!?" Even as he roared back that question, he prepared the ship's control for their ascent. "What's yew gonna do!?"

Activating his Aura, Gerald stabbed his longsword into the metal floor before quickly opening one of the pouches of his utility belt. Just as quickly, he pulled out one of the small glass vials, popped its tiny cork off, and emptied its clear substance down his throat. Once done, he crushed the glass vial and threw dust shards to the side before pulling his sword free.

"What am I gonna do?" He parroted back Butcher's question as he got down into a crouch in front of the sealed doorway, his hand gripping hard into the metal floor as his other hand held his longsword in a reverse grip. "My damn job, that's what!"

At that moment, neither Butcher or any of the members of his team could understand the logic behind Gerald's plan. Their own sense of logic had them believing the young Branwen planned to jump out of their aircraft to "do his job" but, at the same time, they saw no rhyme or reason to it. And frankly, they all unanimously thought that it was plain suicidal. They were over 30,000 feet in the air and with the Nevermore chasing them they were going at speeds nearly as fast when they took off from Patch. For all intents and purposes, they all believed that his plan had absolutely no merit to it, especially considering their Aircraft had built-in weapons that were more than sufficient enough for Grimm related situations such as this one. It didn't make any sense to them whatsoever.

But as reluctant as they all were, they had done their background research on Gerald. All his past "altercations" with the forces of darkness were made into legend by many people all around the four continents. So much so that at one point they became a step up beyond skeptical about the authenticity of most of his deeds and labors. And yet, so many had proclaimed each and every one those cock and bull stories as the truth. So regardless of their incredulity, they all kept their protests and comments to themselves in favor of seeing out Gerald execute his plan.

"Fuck it, fine!" With that said, or more like exclaimed, Butcher flew the Bull-Head straight upwards. The Nevermore was momentarily startled by the sudden change of direction of its prey but, with a screech, it quickly maneuvered its giant body to face towards the new course the Bull-Head was taking. Another screech and it rapidly flapped its gigantic wings, bringing it closer to its prey once more. "But if yew die an' yaaahr sister comes after me, I'm usin' whatever's left ov yaaahr corpse as a fuckin' shield!" And with a press of a button, the Bull-Head's sealed doors opened and causing all the pressurized air inside the aircraft to be sucked out in an instant.

_Come back to me, always... _For a moment, a single solitary instance in time, a visage with eyes of lilac and hair golden like the sun rippled all throughout Gerald's mind.

And as soon as this moment passed, he fully activated his Aura. The dark-red colored energy that was of his soul igniting from his body like a tremendous fire. Butcher and his team only had less than a moment to feel the unearthly weight the full force of Gerald's Aura brought before the young Branwen leaped out through the doorway and into the open sky.

_Always..._

Before gravity could even begin pulling him down, Gerald zeroed in on the Nevermore's bone plated forehead with eyes long accustomed to heightened precision, spun once and hurled his longsword like a spear towards the Grimm giving them chase. It impacted, directly at the center of the bone plating, and pierced through it so deep only the silver-coated hilt and silver rose pommel of his sword remained visible. The Nevermore screeched out in pain but did not stop its chase. And as it neared the now falling Gerald, it opened it's monstrous beak with the full intent of swallowing the young Branwen whole.

1 second...

Without so much as a twitch and a change of facial expression, Gerald waited and let the gaping beak come ever closer towards him. And once the Nevermore guessed its meal was now close enough for the range of its beak, moved to close it shut, fully believing it would ensnare and kill its falling target. Halfway already inside the beak as it was about to close on him, Gerald spun to the left and changed his trajectory, ultimately allowing him to dodge the Nevermore's now clamped beak by mere millimeters. And before the beak itself could pass by him, the young Branwen grabbed onto it and used it as a brace to swing himself towards the center of its bone plated forehead where his sword lied buried deep into it.

2 seconds...

As he neared the hilt of his buried sword, Gerald SPUN so fast he became a blur of red and black. And even when his hand finally clamped around his sword's hilt, he did not halt from his whirlwind-like spinning. And thus, like a buzz saw blade spinning at full power, the young Branwen tore away at the Nevermore, leaving a gaping wound that spanned from its bony head all the way towards its rump.

3 seconds...

And as the massive black monster reared and cocked its head back in pain, Gerald stopped his spinning and stabbed his blade deep into the Grimm's flesh to anchor himself and keep himself from falling off as his leather armored feet helped him skid to a halt. And without so much as a pause, he dug the fingers of his free hand into the Nevermore's flesh and pulled out his sword before breaking into a dash up it's gravely wounded back and towards the exposed back of its massive neck with his ever shining silver sword at the ready.

4 seconds...

And once there was only a mere foot of distance left between him and the Nevermore's neck, the young Branwen leaped forward and SPUN. The white light of his silver sword combined with the malicious color his Aura spinning into a single raging whirlwind of white and dark red. And in a blink of an eye that whirlwind disappeared into the Nevermore's neck, leaving a shower of ink-black blood and flesh just as black in its wake.

5 seconds...

Inside the Nevermore's throat, Gerald continued his buzz saw attack, his blade slicing the entire circumference of its neck. And as soon as the silver blade had sliced through every fiber of flesh and bone, the monstrous avian Grimm's head loosened from its severed neck and fell off to reveal Gerald already moving into a crouching position. His dark hair, made even darker by the Grimm's dark blood, was now glowing in a way that made it somehow look even darker as his blood-red irises glowed into a crimson shade. And what's more, his face now had numerous veins that were pulsing wildly with power.

6 seconds...

"Rah!" With a bellow that seemed to echo all throughout the sky, Gerald used the now dead Nevermore as his "stable ground" to leap up from.

And leap up he did. And quite powerfully too. So much so that as he leaped, he broke through the sound barrier and cleared the distance between him and their Bull-Head in an instant. He slammed hard onto the tail of the aircraft, rocking it and its inhabitants a bit, and gripped into the metal to keep himself from falling off. With his other hand gripping tightly to his sword, he looked back down to see the Nevermore's corpse and head quickly falling lifelessly towards the earth.

"Damn," Cursing, the young Branwen let out a sigh of relief as he gently pressed his forehead on the Bull-Head's metal surface. His hair, eyes, and face quickly returning to normal as the effects of his Semblance began quickly wearing off. ", I can't believe that actually worked." He finished with a chuckle.

He was far from safety, he knew that well. He was, after all, still currently hanging off from an aircraft flying up at heights so high up that the continent looked like it was a sea of dirt and he wasn't in anyway thrilled to follow his dead friend in sky diving. But aside from that and the irritable sensation of being covered with Grimm blood from head to toe, Gerald couldn't help but a grin a little. The feeling of the atmospheric winds licking at him, the warm sensation of the sun's morning light, and the view of the endless blue and white of the sky was truly something awe-inducing for the young man.

"I just hope that they land soon," Tearing his eyes away from the wonderful view the heavens provided, he tried to find wherever the camera that helped them see the Nevermore chasing them was located. ", I can't keep playing monkey-grabby out here forever." And when he couldn't find it, he resorted with a resigned sigh to waving his hand around, the one holding the sword, as he shouted for them to land.

Inside the Bull-Head, the holo-screen showed the young Branwen holding on to the tail end of their aircraft as he waved around and shouted for them to land. The mute button had been pressed, but they had already heard the first few times Gerald had called out to them. And as such, Butcher began to fly the Bull-Head down towards the safety of the ground. And as they descended, the members of Butcher's team were all stunned silent from the turn of events. Not because of the whole ordeal with the Grimm attack, oh no, they were well acquainted with the company of Grimm in their line of work. No, they were rendered speechless from the feat their hired muscle had just performed.

Six seconds, Butcher had counted in his head. Six total seconds was all it took for the young man to jump out of their aircraft, kill the fully-grown Nevermore, and jump right back. Even the most experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses they knew took all four members of their teams to take down an adult Nevermore and that was on the safety of the ground. But what Gerald had pulled, it was something they had never thought a single person could ever do. Let alone someone who was their junior. But they couldn't deny the truth that had been laid bare and witnessed by their own eyes.

"Hehe," Butcher chuckled as he laid back into the pilot seat with a smile so vicious it looked almost feral as his eyes shone with satisfaction. ", a monster all monsters fear, eh?"

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**Onward. **


	8. Chapter 1 Page 6

**L****egend:**

**Virginia/Patricia "Pepper" Potts: Now this was something of a challenge for me. I initially wanted to use her live-action version (the Gwyneth Paltrow one) but then I remembered an old Iron man cartoon series that implemented the same 3-D style as RWBY. The show's called "Iron Man's Armored Adventures" if any of you are interested in seeing it for yourselves. It's currently on Netflix but you can see snips of the show on Youtube.**

**But, I digress. In that show, she had the perfect features to be a young Pepper and as a further bonus, her animation model fits right in the Universe of RWBY. The only downsides to this though are; A. she low-key looks like Nora and B. I'm worried that not a lot of people have actually seen the show and won't know what she looks like. Short of them not searching it up, of course.**

**So, as a final decision, I have come to the conclusion of letting you guys decide as to what my AU of Pepper looks like. If you guys wanna use the live-action model and render her into the 3D-ness of RWBY in your heads, that's all right. And if you guys wanna use the model from "Armored Adventures", that's still all right. Cuz again, I'm leaving it to you guys and your imaginations to shape her physical form.**

**Jarvis " The Vision" a.k.a the trusty A.I. of the Stark's (Voice provided by the actor; Paul Bettany): Nope, sorry but we're not using Paul Bettany's "Vision form". But we will be using his voice though. Cuz, I can't imagine any other Jarvis voice except his. And come on, it's freakin' Paul Bettany.**

**Now, Continue.**

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**Book 1: Silver and Steel**

**Chapter 1: Big Brother**

**Page #6 **

**/~•~•~•~•~•~/**

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As Ruby Rose made her way inside the Stark's building, she looked back towards the double glass doorway to see her older sister, Yang, engaging in a conversation with their Cab Driver.

_Hmm, __I wonder what they're talking about. _Placing her hands on her hips, she opted to wait for her sister to come in before she made her way further inside.

Not because she was afraid of going in alone, oh no. After being an avid customer of the Stark's and their every work-piece for four long years, the young Rose had already checked every nook and cranny of this place from the first floor all the way to the third and had committed it all to her memory. And she was very well familiar with the people who worked here too.

**_"Ah, Miss Rose." _**A digital disembodied voice rang throughout the building's speaker system. The voice almost sounded monotone, but Ruby picked up the slight pitches of joy in its tone. **_"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, as always." _**

"Hey, Jarvis." Looking away from her sister's conversation, Ruby looked towards one of the many CCTV cameras the shop had and waved with a smile. "How have you guys been doing?"

**_"Quite well, Miss Rose," _**Jarvis replied, In a well-mannered way. **_"Miss Rose, _****_" _**Without so much as a pause for Ruby to follow up on, Jarvis continued. **_", I've detected signs of worry in your facial features and in your voice. Noticeable when you asked of our current state of affairs. Is there perhaps something the matter, young Miss?"_**

_Man, I keep forgetting he's a super-smart AI. _Ruby thought to herself humorously as she rubbed her neck, a little embarrassed. _Well, might as well ask now that he's caught on to me._

"There have been robberies going on all around the Kingdom lately and I was just..." She shrugged meekly. "..I was really kinda worried about you guys."

Indeed. For the past six months, robbery has been a constant main topic in the world of social media and news networks. More specifically, the robberies of hordes worth of Dust and a ton of other stuff the young Rose had heard about. And what's more, it hasn't only been reoccurring within the reaches of the Vale Kingdom either. Mistral, Vacuo, and even both Atlas and Mantle weren't excluded in these robberies. But what always remained a constant aside from Dust being the main things being stolen, is the name of a man which the robberies have given even more infamy than it already did in the past.

Roman "The Nefarious" Torchwick. A name which has been voiced out with fear and venom more often than not.

**_"Ah yes, there have indeed been cases such as that befalling other business associates of Mr. Stark." _**Jarvis acknowledged as Ruby glanced around the rows of large shelves housing various weaponry. **_"Thankfully, none have occurred near our vicinity. But rest your worries, Miss Rose, for the Sir has made many contingency procedures for such an emergency."_**

"That's sure good news, I'll say." The young Rose's relief came naturally. She really had been worried for them since she first caught wind of the Robberies occurring.

"Oh and speaking of," Ruby perked up, glancing towards the wide dark-oak front desk where usually she'd see a familiar face welcome her in. ", where is everyone? Mr. Howard and Mrs. Maria, I can understand but Ms. Pepper too? Now that's kinda weird."

Being an avid customer for four long years, Ruby had grown accustomed to a certain pattern here at the Stark's. She'd walk in, stare in wonder at the array of weapons, say good morning to Pepper and then proceed to lose herself in checking each and every weapon available and checking if it would be suitable for her precious "Crescent Rose". But today though there was something amiss.

**_"Ah, Miss. Potts along with Mr. and Mrs. Stark are currently engaged in a_** **_business meeting with a known associate." _**Jarvis answered. **_"As a matter of fact, I was tasked with locking down the shop for the day. I had already turned away numerous clients as per my given protocol."_**

_Whoa really? _The young Rose thought as she glanced back outside to see their cab leaving and Yang waving as it went. "Then why'd you..." She let the question hang in the air, trusting Jarvis to pick it up by himself as she pointed a thumb back towards the glass doorway. The very same doorway that Jarvis had explained was "locked".

**_"That goes without saying. You've long since become a special client, Miss Ruby. And people who both the Mr. and Mrs. deem special are very much far in between. As such, they have instructed me to treat you with the same special treatment as I would their own son."_**

"Oh..." Feeling her neck heat up a little, Ruby rubbed it with one hand as she let out a meek chuckle. "...oh wow, uh...thanks, Jarvis. That-that's really nice and all but I think I don't really deserve this."

**_"Nonsense, young Miss. You've come to the shop every weekend for the past four years. That's about 156 days by my count. And for those 156 days, you've always been, and I quote the Mrs. on this, a "precious stroke of good karma". And recalling your track record here, I couldn't agree more with the Mrs."_**

"W-well, you know me, hehe." Trying her best to play it cool and hide the blush that was creeping up her neck and towards her face, Ruby crossed her arms over her bust in a "gangster" fashion. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood, Rose. Always happy to be...of..service. Yeah." She finished with a "sure" nod and a "confident" grin.

_WHAT?! _Still, in her pose, the young Rose screamed internally. _Of all the tons of epic stuff I know, why the heck did I go with a Spider-Duder quote?! Why, brain? WHY?!_

"Yeah..." Ruby, currently still berating herself in her head, cringed out the word as she seemed to be frozen on the spot.

**_"Ms. Ruby?_** **_Your vitals are spiking. Do you require assistance?"_**

"Oh, she's fine, Jarvis. Don't worry." With a smile, Yang Xiao Long spoke up as she entered the shop. "She just has this habit of freezing up when she gets more attention than she's used to." She walked up behind her younger sister and put an arm around the blushing mess that was Ruby. "And it gets worse when you compliment her," She half-hugged Ruby tight. ", as you can see, she's that bad in handling a compliment. But that just makes her all the more adorable, really."

"What-I am not bad at being complimented!" Now, her blushing wasn't mostly due to her embarrassment with being complimented but now there was the embarrassment of being called out on how badly she handled compliments mixed in. "I-I'm awesome at being complimented, yeah! Cool and calm as a breeze in the sea."

Yang took one glance at her sister, studied her red face, and nodded sagely with a grin that was both hearty and smug at the same time. "Oh yeah, you are the very embodiment of cool right now, sweetie."

In response to this, Ruby squirmed in an attempt to break free from her sister's half hug and give her a few kicks to the shin for what she had said. But alas, Yang's muscle strength was leagues beyond hers's and she couldn't really use her Semblance to break free. At least not anymore. The blonde maiden had already figured out how to counter that move a few years back.

"Darn it, Yang, " Giving up, the young Rose sighed. ", one minute you're all broody and the next you go all "Yom" mode on me." Exacting a little revenge and getting some sense of satisfaction from it, Ruby gave her the stink eye. "Are you on your period or something?"

Yang laughed, outright laughed with her head reared back, as she held Ruby even tighter. Not tight enough to hurt but just enough to remind her she wasn't getting out of this anytime soon. Short of Yang's "supposed" blood moon affecting her mood again.

"Well, " Quickly calming from her laugh trip, Yang wiped away the tears that had gathered in her eyes from laughing so much. ", you're not wrong but come on sweetie, its rude to say stuff like a girl's monthly visitor out loud." She looked towards the same CCTV Ruby had looked at before she came along and grinned. "Especially in the company of the..." A chuckle escaped her. "...male variety."

**_"Oh, worry not Miss Yang." _**Jarvis spoke up in a way that almost sounded playful.**_ "My incorporeal lips are sealed on this matter."_**

The busty blonde let out a chuckle at that before freeing Ruby from her vice-like half hug.

"So, Jarvis, " Yang addressed the same CCTV camera from before as her little sister playfully glared at her. ", where'd everyone run off to? The place seems pretty empty."

"Jarvis said Mr. and Mrs. Stark are in a meeting right now." Ruby answered for her before Jarvis could.

"Hm..." With pursed lips, the blonde sister hummed as she nodded. Then she looked towards the reception desk and pointed at it. "What, and Pepper too?"

"Yep, I wondered about that too." Ruby responded, already moving towards one of the many large metal shelves that housed much various weaponry. "Jarvis says she's helping Mr. and Mrs. Stark with that meeting or something like that." She continued, eyeing the array long array of modified rifles, hand-cannons, pistols, and knives.

"A meeting huh?" Yang directed her question towards the CCTV.

**_"As Miss Ruby said, Miss Potts is currently helping out the Mr. and Mrs. in some business affairs with a known associate of theirs. And I hope you'll forgive me for this but my protocol dis-allows me disclose any and all information regarding the meeting they're conducting."_**

"Oh no, its cool Jarvis." Yang waved off the AI's apology with a smile. "Secret meeting stuff, we get it. So no need to get your 1's and 0's in a fuss." She continued, not failing to hear the small snicker that escaped from her little sister.

And speaking of, the young Rose's attention was caught by a modified hand-cannon placed that was on display along with the rest. She walked closer towards it and picked it up. "Whoa..." She whispered in awe as she analyzed the handguns every feature. And now with it up close, she could see that it was more of a revolver than a handgun. Albeit a larger than normal revolver. "Covert clutch grip, modified cylinder for direct semi-auto auction, and let see..." She unlatched the cylinder and pushed it open before giving it a spin. "...ah, eight-round carrier and whoa-ly molly, these are some pretty big chamber holes. What? Does this thing use .454 casull bullets or something?"

**_"500-Magnum type bullets to be exact." _**Jarvis answered immediately.

"Ah...I see-I see..." Almost airily, Ruby acknowledged as she quickly went back to analyzing the hand-cannon-esque revolver.

_And there she goes again,_ Smiling to herself, Yang approached Ruby from behind and looked down on her as she focused seemingly 100 percent of all her attention on to the weapon she was holding. _, going all hyper-focused on weapons._ _Heh, still adorable though. _Knowing her little sister well enough, Yang decided to leave her be for now and wait for her to finish.

"...hmm, hey uh...Jarvis?" Without even looking away from the revolver, Ruby called out for the AI.

**_"Yes?" _**

"Is this an anti-recoil brace built into its frame?" The young Rose asked, studying the revolver's modified frame as she cocked the revolver's hammer back and gave its ejector rod a push.

**_"Yes, Miss Rose, it is." _**

"Hm, sweet." Complimented Ruby, spinning the cylinder before flipping it back in place. "And if I'm not wrong, the hammer and the ejector rod are spring action, right?"

**_"Correct again, Miss _****_Ruby._** **_The Sir had this one modified for _****_fast-paced shooting action and even faster reload capacity. And with the added recoil bracers, it can deliver maximum damage output without hindering the user with its kick-back." _**

"Well, I'll say, " Running her hand across the revolver's reinforced 10-inch length barrel, Ruby couldn't help but smile brightly at what a fine piece of work this revolver was. ", it's one helluva cool gun." She finished, spinning the revolver by its trigger guard in a cowboy-or cowgirl in this case-manner before firing imaginary shots at imaginary targets around her.

"Oh, and let me guess, " Placing her hands on her hips in preparation, Yang spoke up from behind Ruby with a knowing look. ", you want me to buy it for you, don't you?"

The young Rose stopped from her imaginary shooting and quickly whirled around to face her older sister, holding the revolver close to her bust all the while.

"Yes, please." She answered cutely with a nod and a toothy smile.

Ruby had been saving up her Lien to buy new parts for her Crescent Rose and also maybe even a few trinkets on the side. But if her heavily loaded on money big sis was going to pay for her, well, she wasn't just going to pass that chance up.

"Welp, guess that's that then." Yang shrugged. "But Rubes, you gotta promise me this time you won't go shop-crazy and buy more stuff you won't be needing." She gently slapped her little sister's forehead with a playful glare. "Like those mini-mine bombs, you bought last week."

"I do too need them, I just...haven't found the time to tinker around in my workshop." The young Rose answered with a pout before her face lit up in remembrance. "Oh, and can I also buy some other stuff for my Crescent? He's been due for an upgrade-slash-check-up for a while now."

"All right, but again-"

"No going-overboard with the purchase, yes, I got it,_ Mom_." Ruby rolled her eyes playfully at her older sister. "I'm not some kind of baby that needs to be told twice, you know."

"That's YOM to you, sweetie, and no," With a grin, Yang stepped forward and ruffled Ruby's hair a bit. ", you'll always be a baby, cuz you'll always be MY baby."

"Urgh, look-just, hold this, " Already realizing the can of beans she had unknowingly shaken up, the young Rose, with a little annoyed grunt, handed the modified revolver to her sister before turning away from her. ", I'll be back in a jiffy." She quickly turned back around and jabbed a pointing finger at one of Yang's considerable sweater puppies. "And don't you go spewing any more baby stories, you hear me?"

Like the last few hundred times in the past with at least a few hundred people. She wasn't sure of it but she had a feeling half of Patch and some few friends of Yang who lived here in Vale already had their fill of "baby stories" from Yang. So much that ACTUAL moms with ACTUAL babies of their own went as far as to include the busty blonde in their inner friendship-circle of mothers. Or as the young Rose has come to call it as; "The Mom-Creed".

"Hehe, no promises, Rubes." Yang gently removed the finger that was jabbing one of her chest orbs, her grin from before exhibiting no signs of disappearing anytime soon.

"Gah..." Giving up and leaving her chances up to Lady Fate, Ruby turned back around. _Definitely, on her period_ She thought to herself with puffed cheeks before transforming into a swirl of red rose petals and zooming towards the shelves at the far back, leaving only a trail of rose petals red as blood as she went.

**_"_****_I'll call on Miss. Potts, right away. Doubtless, it'll take no more than two minutes for Miss. Rose to collect all she needs."_**

"You sure 'bout that, Jarvis?" Without so much as paying a glance towards the revolver, Yang made it spin by its trigger guard. Exactly the same way Ruby spun it before. "I mean, you did say they're in a meeting right now, and we really don't wanna disturb whatever it is they're meeting about." With her free hand, she made a "you-know" gesture.

**_"Oh, that is quite all right, Miss Xiao Long. I've already announced your arrival and Miss. Potts is making haste towards us as we speak."_**

"Whoa, that was fast." The blonde remarked with a quirked up brow as she placed her free hand on her hip, still spinning the revolver with her other hand all the while.

**_"Well, you're well enough acquainted with Miss. Potts and her...quirkiness-"_**

_That sure was a long ass pause. _Yang thought with a titter.

**_"-and her discontent with in-activeness. Meetings just so happen to be apart of those. In her own words even, she said; "If-"_**

"If I'm gonna be stuck in something as boring as a darn meeting, " The woman herself said as she raced down the stairs to the left. ", you better believe I'll split the first chance I get to leave."

Patricia Pepper Potts. A woman that was four years older than Yang. She had long orange-colored hair that reached the back of her neck, light brown eyes, tiny bits of freckles adorning her cheeks just below her eyelids, and olive skin. Her current attire consisted that of a light pink-colored hoodie jacket, jogging pants that were of the shade of color, and what seemed to be flip flops.

"Yang!" With an excited exclamation, the woman known as Pepper ran towards Yang with open arms.

"Hey, Pepper." Easily intercepting the hug with a smile, Yang felt Pepper's arms tighten around her back as she too reciprocated the action.

"You're a lifesaver, Yang, you know that?" Letting go and stepping back, Pepper said to Yang as she hopped back up and down a bit. "I thought I'd never get out of that torture room of BOREDOM." She added with a smile and a little laugh.

"If it was so bad then why'd you go in there in the first place?" Yang inquired with a small laugh of her own.

"Oh girl, you know me, " She jabbed her two thumbs close to her face. ", I'd rather spend one week tinkering around the shop than one minute in there. But, " Her hands fell to her side in a slumped manner as her shoulders slumped as well. ", Mr. Howard and Mrs. Maria said they really needed a third voice for their side and, well you know, I can't really say no to my bosses-slash-foster parents-slash-future parents in law, cuz that'd be just mean. So, I took it upon myself to burden the boredom, but, MAN OH MAN was it tough to do."

"Oh, I'm sure it was." Yang agreed. Only half meaning it as she smiled, ever amused by her friend's over-reactions.

Ever since they met, Yang had always seen the older woman as someone cool to hang out with. Even with her "quirkiness" as Jarvis had put it. In fact, that trait of hers only made her all the more endearing for the young Xiao Long. Like that kind of friend that brings a cheerful mood whenever they're around. And amazingly enough, Pepper herself wasn't even phased with Yang's past anger outbursts. She just took it in stride, made a few over-exaggerated jokes here and there, and got her to calm down after a while. Truly, if she could call someone a girl-buddy, it'd be this woman in front of her. Of course, she had plenty other girl-buddies back at Patch and some here in Vale, but Pepper was unique in her own way.

"Say..." Gaining a serious look, a look Yang barely even saw most of the time, Pepper gestured towards the blonde's attire. "...I just noticed. You're outfit's different from usual."

_Uh-oh..._Yang gulped. _Maybe I can-_

"Ah, let me guess, " Before Yang could even come up with a means to change the subject, Pepper clicked her fingers with a wince that signified she was already sure of the answer before Yang even gave it. ", you and Gerald got into another fight again, didnt you?"

_Urgh..._ "Yeah, " With a click of her tongue, Yang answered irritated as she flicked her blonde mane back. _Fuck, is it seriously becoming that obvious of a thing for people? Damn it, Gerald. _", we kinda did."

Pepper shook her head slowly, with each shake accompanied with a light "hm-hm". It kind of reminded Yang of the way she'd shake her head at Ruby whenever she ended up doing something she wasn't supposed to do. "Well this just won't do, then." She turned away from Yang. "Hey, Ruby-rubes!"

"Yeah?" The young Rose's voice called back out from somewhere neither Pepper or Yang could see.

"Keep shopping some more sweetie, you're sis and I are gonna have a heart to heart convo." She turned back to Yang with a look that was both knowing and serious. "And I have a feeling this one's gonna be a long one."

_First Doppinder and now Pepper, wow, is today supposed to be Yang-Council day or something? _But even as she thought this, she didn't feel all that too mad at the chances Lady Life was throwing at her to cool off. It was just a pain in the ass for her to realize how prominent her little...disagreements...with Gerald were becoming. _Meh, fuck it. I could use some girl-chat._

"Fine, but don't be surprised with whatever comes outta my mouth. I'm still feeling kinda volatile about him right now."

"Yikes..." Slinking her arm around Yang's, Pepper began leading her towards the desk. The preferable and, really, the only place they could convene for their chat. "...that bad this time?"

"Ugh, you have no idea, Pepps."

* * *

**_/~/_**

* * *

The black-colored double doors leading inside the dimly lit throne room opened to reveal a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin making his way inside. The man had greying black hair and a thick mustache that was of the same color shade. His attire consisted that of a gray overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow buttoned undercoat, a yellow dress shirt beneath that and a black necktie as well. His pants were the same color as his overcoat and he wore brown colored cordovan shoes and matching finger-less gloves.

"My Lady, " The man called out in respect as he walked up towards the throne.

It was a monstrous thing. Hideous and haunting. Despite coming back here more times than he had cared to count the man was still appalled at the sight of its mere existence. It was asymmetrical in nature and the multitudes of charred swords unevenly jutting out of its side made it seem as if it had wings. Broken and disfigured wings to be exact. And it's size and height dwarfed out the entirety of the throne room. There were steps even that led up towards the throne's seat. But just like the rest of the throne, these steps we're made from jagged blades charred and melted black and hammered into shape. Truly, a monstrous throne.

And sitting on this throne was the woman he had sworn his servitude and life to. A woman that was currently engulfed with mist so black he could barely even make out her silhouette. Oh, but he knew she was there. And he knew she was watching him. Those bright red demonic eyes of hers piercing past the mist of darkness was and always will be proof enough for him.

", you summoned me." Stopping just short of a few meters from the foot of the monstrous throne, the man got down on one knee and bowed his head low.

"I wish to discuss matters on the researches you've conducted." Her voice rang out from beyond the veil of black mist. It was authoritative yet calm, strong yet gentle. It was the kind of voice one has when they are confident in their every stride. And sensual. Ever so sensual. It unnerved him. But he wasn't sharing that fact with anyone anytime soon. "Surely you've made headways in the projects you've had me fund for you."

"But of course, my Lady." Pushing down the dread that would always creep up his spine whenever he was within her presence, the man lifted his head up and showed her a smile that was by all means confident. "You should not expect anything less of someone as I."

She laughed an amused laugh at that. It was short but it echoed all throughout the empty throne room. It was worriedly warm and disturbingly welcoming. Like the laugh of an old friend or even that of a lover. It was just another thing he had long since added to the list of reasons why she made him quail. But even still, he calmed his heart and his smile never faltered nor did his look of confidence.

"Before that though, " The woman behind the black mist said. ", how far along are you on matters at Mountain Glenn?"

"Ah, I've only just recently received the latest status report from our little Maiden's critters. They've finally breached past the bedrock and have found it, dormant and unresponsive. And alive." The man let out a small laugh as he recalled the sheer rage and terror in the voice of his "associate" handling the operations at Mountain Glenn when he called to check on them. "And according to the cow, his people had the shock of their lives when they saw it up close. Just goes to show you that even the most bull-headed can crack."

"My-my, what great news indeed." The woman appraised. "And I am sure you told them to wait for my command in administering the Dark-Blood, yes?"

"Naturally, my lady." The man replied easily with an air of poise. "The cow and his people as of now are still on standby for my word. And as always, I will wait for yours."

"You've done well." From behind the mist, the woman gave a quick clap for her subordinate. "Now, contact them once more and tell them to gather up all their resources for departure. Have them vacate as far as they can from the southern region but not before giving the Dark-Blood to the creature."

"As you will, my Lady." He bowed low shortly before getting up on his feet. "And what of the researches, my Lady? Did you not wish for me to discuss them with you?"

"That shall be moved for a later time." The woman answered, the silhouette of her arm gently waving him off. "As of now, this is of the utmost priority. Now go."

"As you bid, my Lady." A 90-degree bow after, the man turned away from the woman sitting on her monster throne and began making his way out of the throne room.

A few meters before reaching the black double doors, they opened by themselves and invited him out. It was something he had chalked up to Supernatural a long time ago and he had long since grown accustomed to it. Besides, out of all the bizarreness in the entire castle, this was the most mundane for him. It honestly just reminded him of the automatic open doors back in his homeland.

"And one more thing." The woman called out to him just as he was about to cross the threshold.

Quickly stopping and just as quickly turning back to face her, the man put his hands together behind him as he readied himself for whatever the woman wanted to say with a smile that was always eager to please. "Yes, my Lady?"

"Tell everyone in the castle to brace themselves." Even with this much distance between them, her voice still carried a strong will to it. "The earth will shake soon."

For a second, Arthur's eyes widened by a fraction from what she had just said. But he recovered quickly enough. "It will be as you bid, my Lady." Another deep bow later, he turned away and fully exited the throne room. The black double doors sealing shut once more right after his departure.

* * *

**Onward. **


End file.
